From Fear To Fury
by Amber Dread
Summary: It seems like Rey will be stuck working her debt off to her foster father forever, until one day she has an idea on how to improve her situation, but the man who could help her is an Alpha, and they only ever want one thing... ABO Reylo Modern AU featuring Omega Rey and Alpha Kylo Ren
1. Chapter 1

**Warning - this fic will contain: dubious consent (ABO style), violence, m****edication abuse, SMUT, mentions of past assault**

**'**

* * *

**Chapter One**

'

Amidst the smell of oil, grease and hot metal, Rey could clearly scent an Alpha. She stopped her work on the undercarriage of a stolen BMW and scooted further underneath the car, hoping that they wouldn't detect her in return.

She hated Alpha's, their aggressive entitlement and arrogant superiority twisted her stomach and always left a sour tang in her mouth.

She avoided them at all costs.

They really did seem to think they were the god's gift, like anyone should be happy and honoured if they so much as looked at them, and should be panting at their feet if they wanted them.

Not her, she'd rather fucking die.

The sort of Alpha that turned up here, at Unkar's chop shop, were not the sort that would take no for an answer… although, that was true of most Alpha's in her experience.

So she lay still and silent, counting the seconds as they passed slowly by, until the sound of heavy feet shuffled to a stop by the car.

"Knot-head's gone, Iti-rā," Korso rumbled and Rey let out a sigh of relief.

She wriggled out and sat up, grasping Korso's offered hand to get her to her feet. He was huge for a beta, and he looked out for her a bit, having no love for Alpha's himself - for some reason, Alpha's saw his size as some sort of challenge, despite his designation.

"Thanks," she said as she wiped her forehead on her sleeve, "The usual?"

Korso grimaced, "No, you're not going to like this, but we're going to have a double shipment next week."

Rey groaned, "Fuck."

Next week, she would be off for her heat. Unkar hated her having time off as it was, and if there was a double shipment in, he'd dock her pay twice what he normally did, as if he thought she was having a bloody holiday. At this rate, she'd be working off her debt to him for the rest of her life... she was so screwed.

There had been numerous times she had seriously considered skipping out and leaving for good, but if you didn't have somewhere safe lined up once your heat came around, you were well and truly fucked, literally and figuratively. She had never been brave enough to try it - one thing she liked less than working for Plutt, was the idea of being caught out somewhere unfamiliar when her heat arrived.

Even so, _something_ had to give… it was a gordian knot, she didn't like the term for obvious reasons, but it was apt. If only she could find some sort of loophole or think creatively, she may find her way out of it...

It was a problem she had long fretted over, but a workable solution had never revealed itself. Despite the seeming impossibility of it, she still spent the morning racking her brains, turning the problem over and over, looking at it from every angle, until an idea finally came to her... what if she didn't untangle this knot? What if, like Alexander, she could _just cut through it? _

The idea made sweat prickle across her skin and her stomach roil, but perhaps it was worth a shot.

For once, she took her lunch break instead of working through it, and jogged to the parade of shops a few blocks away so she could check out what the charity shops had to offer her.

For her plan to even be put into action, she had to get into The Dark Side, and there was no way she'd be let in there if she turned up in her usual outfit of ripped jeans and a t-shirt. Along with hoodies, that was what her wardrobe consisted of, so she needed something else.

As an unmated omega, she didn't go out much, she went to work and went food shopping and that was pretty much it.

That was how she kept safe.

The idea of going to a club, much less this near her heat, was almost terrifying, but it was a whole week away and she was only going there to try and get a meeting with Mr Ren, Plutt's boss. Hopefully she would be straight in and out, maybe half an hour tops, _she'd be fine_.

The shop she went to first was run by a woman named Maz. She was tiny and eccentric but very friendly and Rey felt comfortable enough around her to ask for her help.

Maz raised her eyebrows at Rey's request, (Rey only ever really bought jeans, mens t-shirts, hoodies and books) but led her to a rail of dresses and helped Rey find one in her size. She was a little doubtful about how low the neckline was and how short the skirt but once Maz pointed out she could wear black tights to cover her legs and leave her hair loose to cover her neck, (Maz was an Omega too, so she understood Rey's concerns) she thought it should be okay.

Even Rey could see that the dress was nice, made of a soft material in navy blue, with long sleeves and a scalloped V neckline. The skirt flared at the waist, which would make walking easy, (Rey hated how tight skirts made women have to take small steps), and the skirt of this would mean she could run easily if she needed to.

The dress was worn, a little bobbled in places but no one would notice that at night or in a dark club.

She thanked Maz profusely as she left and dived into the Pound shop for tights and some boot polish before high-tailing it back to the garage.

Plutt gave her a suspicious look as she stuffed her purchases into her locker, and for a moment she felt guilt prickle over her skin, as if he somehow knew what she was planning. He worked her like a slave, but he was the only family she could remember.

It wasn't long before the guilt gave way to resolve though - yes, he had adopted her, but as he liked to say, '_nothing in life is free'_ and that included his care of her.

_No,_ she was going to do this, and she would be burned before she felt regret over leaving this life behind.

If her plan worked, that is.

It probably wouldn't.

**'**

Little was known about the enigmatic Mr Ren, or rather, Rey and the people she worked with, knew very little about him.

All she knew for sure was that he was a ruthless man who ruled over his going concerns with an iron thumb and an unpredictable flash point.

Rey had no idea where his base of operations was and she wasn't going to ask Plutt. The only concrete location she knew he frequented, was a club called The Dark Side. She knew this, because she had overheard Plutt complaining to Teedo that Mr. Ren always met him somewhere else and he couldn't otherwise get into the club. (Mr. Ren never set foot in the garage himself, he always sent underlings if the need arose).

**'**

Although it was Monday, Rey decided to try her luck - it seemed unlikely that Mr. Ren would conduct business on a weekend, and this way, even if she was unsuccessful, she could do some reconnaissance which would help her when she next visited.

Before showering, Rey polished her scuffed boots, buffing out as many marks as she could, then relaced them with some black ribbon she had lying around to make them look more feminine.

The black tights were opaque and made her feel a lot happier about how short the skirt of the dress was. She left her hair down as Maz had advised, it felt a little strange and the tickle of it brushing her neck made her slightly jumpy at first but she got used to it.

Rey had very little makeup - there never seemed any point in wearing any to work, but she did have mascara and a copper coloured eyeshadow which she dabbed on with her fingers, finishing with some lip balm that had a slight tint to it. Hopefully it would be enough.

Just prior to leaving, she applied orange oil balsam over her scent glands. It stung and itched but it was a trick Maz had told her about that masked an Omega's scent. Maz made it herself, adding it to wax so it didn't melt away when applied to the skin. Rey was never without it now, the balsam and her suppressants were the things she splurged on, the luxuries she relied on to navigate her way through life comfortably and safely.

She flung on her biker jacket and beanie, took a deep breath and left her tiny apartment. Her other indulgence in life, was her motorbike; she had rebuilt it from scrap and it looked like shit, but it was faster than it appeared and manouved like a dream.

This was when she felt the most free, when everything slipped to the back of her mind and it was just her and the dark night. The sound of the wind and the purr of the engine never failed to put a smile on her face.

**'**

Rey parked up around the corner from The Dark Side, taking her beanie off and stowing it inside the seat, before shaking out her hair. She didn't bother with a helmet, if she crashed she planned on either getting up and walking away or dying because hospital was not an option.

Shoving her hands in her pockets, she nervously walked around to the entrance of the club. There were a few people waiting to go in and she joined the queue, ignoring the scornful stares of the other women, who in her opinion, were dressed like hookers. It was an opinion she kept to herself.

The Alpha bouncer raised a skeptical eyebrow as he looked her over, "Over eighteens only, honey."

Rey stood her ground and tried not to glare at him as she said evenly, "I'm twenty three, actually."

She handed him her ID, and once he had peered carefully at her photo and her, he stood back, nodding reluctantly as he tested her ID for authenticity, "All right, little one. Are you on your own?"

"I'm meeting someone inside," Rey answered truthfully, though she couldn't see how it was any of his business.

The man grunted and handed her ID back, stepping aside so she could enter and pay her ticket. To her surprise, the beta at the counter told her it was Ladies Night, which meant free entry _and _a free glass of 'bubbly'.

It was dark inside the club, everything was painted black with accents of blood red which made it a little oppressive, though at least some of the walls were mirrored making the space feel less like a cave … but it _reeked_ of Alpha.

For a moment, Rey stumbled to a stop a few paces inside the doors, her senses overwhelmed. The most crowded place she went was the supermarket, where the air was kept cold and filtered.

The conflicting scents made her dizzy and she swayed over to the nearest seat she could see, pulling out a stick of tea tree balm and rubbing it under her nostrils before taking careful shallow breaths.

She looked around, worried someone had noticed, but she couldn't see anyone staring at her and she carefully breathed a small sigh of relief, then stood and looked about her.

There appeared to be two floors; on the ground floor the bar curved along one wall, there were seating areas raised a few steps above the currently empty dance floor, with two raised podiums with poles.

As it was still early, the music wasn't too loud to make conversation and there were groups of people sitting and chatting, others standing or sitting at the bar.

She assumed that Mr Ren would be in a VIP area or something, but wasn't sure what that would look like or where that would be, so she skirted around the room to reach the bar, standing as far away from the other patrons as she could as she took off her jacket and set it on a stool next to her.

From her new vantage point she was able to get a better look at the people sitting in the various circular seating areas surrounding the dance floor. It didn't help much as she wasn't entirely sure what Mr Ren looked like.

Her eyes were drawn up to the second floor balconies, as she studied them she noticed that the stairs leading to them was manned by a bouncer standing in front of a velvet rope. So it looked like she needed to go upstairs then.

"On the house, sweet thing," said a voice behind her and she jumped slightly, turning to see a champagne flute being put on a napkin in front of her by a smiling beta.

Rey felt herself blush a little, "Uh, no, thanks - I'm driving," she explained awkwardly.

The man clicked his tongue, "Too bad!" he glanced down the bar then back at her, "You look like you need something, how about a lemonade instead?"

Rey's lips twitched a little and she consciously tried to relax her shoulders, "That would lovely, thank you."

"No problem!" he grabbed a glass and filled it with lemonade, "So, what are you doing here on a Monday night, if you're not drinking?"

Rey shifted a little uneasily at the questioning, but couldn't see too much harm in it, "I have a, err, meeting… with Mr. Ren, is he on the second floor?"

The man's eyebrows lifted and he gave her a careful look as he lowered his voice, "He's upstairs, but are you sure about that meeting, honey?"

Rey's mouth went dry and she took a sip of the lemonade before answering, "Unfortunately, yes, I'm sure."

He frowned but nodded, "You'll need to finish your drink before you go up and unless you have an appointment, Marek may not let you up anyway."

Rey took another sip of her drink and nodded, "Thanks."

The bartender left to go and serve another patron and Rey tried to psych herself up as she finished her drink. This meeting may lead to her freedom from Plutt, or at least a better situation than her current one. _She could do this_, all she had to do was sound reasonable and not freak out.

**'**

She approached the stairs as confidently as she could, breathing shallowly. She had briefly considered lying and saying she had an appointment, but was fairly certain that would be a bad idea. The bouncer looked her over as she approached, his expression unimpressed.

"I need to speak to Mr Ren," she said as firmly as she could.

The bouncer snorted, "I doubt he needs to speak to you though, shorty. Go back to the bar."

Rey dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands as she looked back at him flatly, "I work for Unkar Plutt, Mr Ren will want to see me."

"Never heard of a Plutt."

Rey felt like kicking him, she was not going to be put off that easily, "Plutt works for Mr Ren. If you don't believe me, fine, but just go and tell Mr Ren and if he still doesn't want to see me, I'll leave."

He eyed her for a moment, then rolled his eyes and spoke into an ear comm Rey hadn't noticed, "Hux? I got a girl here asking to speak to Mr Ren about a man named Plutt? Apparently she works for him, and he works for Mr Ren."

Rey couldn't hear the reply and the man's expression didn't change as he nodded.

"Small, beta," he answered, leaning closer to inspect her, he shrugged, "Not ugly."

Anger and embarrassment brought blood to Rey's cheeks and she folded her arms, willing her face to remain still and not turn into a scowl.

"Yeah, all right," he signed off and looked at her, "He'll see you. You need to leave your jacket and phone with me, then head up. Someone will meet you at the top of the stairs, be polite."

Rey gave up trying not to glare and handed him her jacket, "Phone is in the pocket."

He checked, nodded and stood aside, undoing the velvet rope for her to pass him. She straightened her spine, took a steadying but not too deep breath, and started up the stairs.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

It was a quiet evening at The Dark Side and Kylo had just been catching up on emails, before his meetings started later. Although this wasn't his main base of operations, this was where he met associates he'd rather keep at arms length. He had a stake in the club and consequently they pandered to his every need.

"There's a beta downstairs requesting to see you, Mr Ren," Hux said as he came to stand in front of the table behind which Kylo was sitting.

Kylo looked up at Hux, and raised his eyebrow in question.

Hux shrugged a little, "I don't recognise her, neither does Marek, but she says she works for Plutt and needs to speak to you."

Kylo frowned and closed his tablet, "There is no female employee listed on Plutt's books," he stood, feeling slightly curious and walked up to the balcony to see.

A girl stood with Marek, her body language tense, she looked out of place in the club, her outfit reserved and finished off with flat army boots. He felt his lips quirk slightly in amusement.

"Let her up," he told Hux as he seated himself once more.

Hux nodded and went to meet her at the top of the stairs.

**'**

As the girl approached, Kylo studied her further; she was thin, too thin, with a tiny waist and barely there breasts. Her long brown hair was loose and wavy, surrounding a face with wide eyes and a small nose above sweet pink lips.

Her scent was strange, it tickled and itched his nose with the smell of oranges, but underneath that was something delicious, like hot sunshine on bare skin, mint and honey… he felt a thrum of something electric ripple over his skin and he heard her give a tiny gasp before she shook herself a little and came to stop a few feet from him.

This was no beta.

Why hadn't anyone else noticed? Now he was aware of the two different scents, it was overwhelmingly obvious, it was _mouthwatering._

They were both silent for a moment as they studied each other, but she dropped her eyes quickly.

Hux cleared his throat behind her and her eyes darted back up, "Err, Mr. Ren, thank you for seeing me."

Kylo nodded, "You wish to talk about Unkar Plutt, Miss-?"

She shifted on her feet, "Miss Sannds."

He was interested that she didn't move any closer to him, or hold out her hand to shake. Hux seemed a little suspicious but he didn't think he'd worked out that she had somehow covered her scent with another. Scent masking was frowned upon, almost illegal, no legally procurable perfume or the like was sold that could do that.

"I was not aware that Unkar Plutt had a female employee, Miss Sannds," he flicked his fingers to Hux, indicating he could leave, then gestured for her to sit down.

She perched on the edge of the curved sofa, still several feet away, "My first name is Rey, people often assume it's a male name."

Kylo nodded absently, he was more concerned by the fact that Plutt had not informed him he had an omega working for him. An unmated omega.

"You have five minutes to explain why you are here," he said as he watched her carefully.

Her eyes widened but she gave him a tight nod rather than wasting time protesting.

**'**

"I work for Plutt, I owe him," she bit her lip, "He adopted me when I was five, brought me up, but, well, he kept a note of everything I ever cost him, which I am now working off, but…" she blushed, a hint of anger and resentment made it through the fog of orange, "He continues to increase it over every little thing and if I," Kylo watched as her hands clenched on her knees, "I just don't ever see how I can get away from him… so, as you're his boss, I wondered if you could take on my debt and I'd work for you? I know you don't do charity, I work hard, I'm one of the best mechanics around and I don't get into trouble…" she trailed off, sounding miserable and her shoulders sagged in defeat.

Kylo realised he'd been leaning towards her as she spoke and now leaned back, casually spreading his arms along the back of the seats, "And if I were to do this for you, what would be in it for me?"

He kept his voice as casual and disinterested as possible.

Her head came up and for a moment she looked him in the eyes, a startled look on her face as if she hadn't considered he'd want something in return.

"I… I…" she stuttered, darting her eyes away from his and all over the room, as if looking for inspiration.

Kylo folded his legs in front of him, "I'll take your debt, if you give me your next three heats."

Her reaction was not what he had expected. She gasped and shrank away from him, looking utterly terrified, the spike in her scent was unpleasant as she jerked to her feet and backed away, shaking her head.

"No, no, I..." she took a shuddering breath, obviously trying to get herself under control, then shook her head again, "Sorry to have wasted your time."

And then she was walking swiftly away from him, not quite running but almost, dodging around Hux at the top of the stairs.

Hux looked his way questioningly, wanting to know if he should stop her, but Kylo shook his head, and the redhead made his way over to him instead.

"Find out what you can about her from Plutt, her name is Rey."

Hux raised a pale eyebrow curiously and Kylo felt the corners of his lips curve very slightly, "She's an Omega."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

'

By the time Rey made it back to her bike, she was hyperventilating. _How had he known?_ No one else seemed to have noticed. But then, no one else smelled like him, it had been almost impossible to keep her wits, being that close to… his _scent... _it had been almost magnetising, calling to the stupid Omega she kept chained inside her.

She had needed to get out of there, and fast. With some concentrated effort she got her breathing under control enough to get on her bike and ride home, trying to keep her head free of anything else other than traffic and her route.

**'**

When her front door shut out the world, she sagged against it. This had been an awful mistake. She had been stupid to think that it may have worked, and now she was worse off because her boss's boss knew she was an Omega.

Burn it all.

Rey groaned to herself and stood up straight, slid home her extra deadbolt and went to her kitchen area to boil the kettle for tea.

While it brewed, she took a quick shower, hoping to get rid of the scent of alpha that lingered on her clothes and hair, before falling into bed with her tea.

All she had to do was keep her head down, surely he wouldn't care about her after she had rudely run away like that. He was a rich man after all, famous, or rather infamous, he wouldn't care about her, he'd probably forgotten all about her already...

She sighed as she settled down under her duvet, curling herself up as tight as possible; she would just have to work as hard as she could, for as many hours as she was physically able, then maybe she'd be free of Plutt by the time she was forty.

Fuck.

**'**

Unsurprisingly, Rey slept badly. She tossed and turned and awoke early, tangled in her blankets, with a small amount of slick between her legs.

Mortified, she took another quick shower before skipping breakfast and going to the garage. She was the first to arrive, so before she got to work she put the decrepit coffee machine on and checked the phone for messages.

There was only one and it chilled her blood: "_Plutt, this is Hux, Mr Ren is seeking information about a female employee of yours, first name Rey. Give me a call back when you get this."_

Without thinking it through, Rey deleted it, then winced - if Plutt didn't ring back, this Hux would just call again. This just got worse and worse. Plutt would know she was here alone and able to delete the message… she poured herself some coffee and wandered outside to stare unseeing at the BMW she'd been working on yesterday.

Objectively, there wasn't much she could do about her current situation, other than running away, and things would have to get much worse before she was willing to try that. There was a safe place she went for her heats, but to keep it safe you couldn't just turn up… what could he possibly want to know though? Unless he was considering taking on her debt?

Rey snorted and shook her head, no, that was just wishful thinking. Either way, standing here brooding was doing no good, so she allowed herself another sigh, then got to work.

**'**

It was almost lunchtime when Unkar yelled for her to come see him in his office. Rey swallowed down bile and went, wiping her grubby hands nervously on her jeans. Korso raised an eyebrow at her as she walked past the audi he was stripping, but she just shrugged.

Unkar glared at her over his desk, angry colour high in his flabby face, "Shut the door, girl."

Rey did so but didn't sit down in the chair he indicated, just in case she needed to run.

His eyes narrowed as he looked her up and down, "What have you gone and done now?"

Rey worked on keeping her face expressionless as she shook her head, "I haven't done anything Unkar, been here since 7am."

His glare intensified, "You need to explain to me why my boss is asking about you."

Rey allowed some of her worry to show on her face as she continued to feign ignorance, "He what? Why?"

Unkar studied her for a moment then grunted and scratched his lank, thinning hair, "I don't know, that's why I'm asking you!"

Rey was proud of her acting skills as she asked in a concerned, subservient voice, "What should we do?"

Unkar sighed and rubbed his face, "I'll deal with it. For the next few days, keep a low profile. Anyone comes in, you make yourself scarce, don't be parading around the shops or nothing neither, understand?"

Rey nodded dutifully, "Okay, thanks."

She managed to refrain from grimacing as he added, "You owe me, this'll be added to your total. Now get back to work."

It was subtle, but over the next few days Rey realised she was being followed. It was no one she recognised, it could be anyone, for various reasons, but her gut told her they were something to do with Mr Ren. What if he were keeping tabs on her to find out when her heat started?

The idea both horrified her and made her skin flush with warmth. This was getting dangerous. At least they drove a car, not a bike - hopefully when her time came, she'd lose them and make it to the Safe Heat House alone.

The Safe Heat House, or the S.H.H, was secretly run for Omega's who, for whatever reason, wished to spend their heat alone, somewhere safe and secure where no Alpha would bother them. There were a few others in the city, all of the locations kept secret. It wasn't an illegal practice, but like scent masking, it was frowned upon and often the police would shut them down on some other charge, that or once a location became known it would be staked out by knot-heads.

**'**

Sunday morning rolled around and Rey knew when she woke up that her heat was almost upon her, earlier than she had expected. Her fevered skin and aching, itching body were already uncomfortable and there was no way she'd last at work.

So she dragged herself out of bed and stuffed her backpack with everything she'd need over the next few days and shot off a text to Unkar, rather than have to listen to him rant over her leaving a day earlier than planned.

At least she could trust him to keep her secret; afterall, it had been him that took her out of school when she presented so he could keep her designation secret and keep a hold of her. She had him to thank that her id didn't have _Omega_ written on it.

In some ways, she owed him more than money.

**'**

Normally she would take two taxis to the S.H.H, changing halfway there, as she was never in a fit state to ride home after her heat was through. But a taxi wouldn't lose her tail and besides, such a change in her routine would make her watchers sit up and take notice.

As she settled gingerly onto her bike, she winced, the saddle pressing against the tender spot between her legs. At least it was raining softly, enough to cool her face but not enough to need her to take it slow.

The black merc was parked about six cars away, they weren't even trying to hide now. Despite her state Rey felt her lips curve just the tiniest bit - after the first time she'd noticed them by her home, she hadn't bothered to try and lose them, but they were in for a surprise now.

Once her bag was firmly on her back with the chest strap tight and her beanie was jammed down as far as it would go, she kicked the bike to life beneath her and sped away from the curb. She watched the merc do the same in her mirror, then sped up even more and started expertly weaving through the other traffic at high speed, losing them behind her. It didn't stop her checking her mirrors for it every few seconds though.

She breathed a small sigh of relief when she arrived at the S.H.H, pushing her bike as far into the adjoined garage and throwing an old sheet over it before going around the side of the house and knocking on the back door.

Finn opened the door, surprise on his face, "Rey! We weren't expecting you till this evening."

He stood aside quickly to let her enter and shut the door behind her.

"I'm sorry, it's started early…" she bit her lip as she took off her backpack, "And I had a tail. I had to ride over and I've hidden my bike in the garage but it may be a good idea to shut the door."

Finn frowned as he gestured for her to take a seat at the kitchen table as he put the kettle on, "A tail? You mean someone was following you? Do they know?"

Rey grimaced, "I think they work for someone who knows, so it's probable. I double checked though, I lost them."

Finn nodded slowly, "Okay, well Poe is still clearing up after the last girl- she only just left, so you'll have to sit tight for a bit. I'll just go and close the garage now."

Rey sent a text to Korso while she waited, asking him to say she was visiting family if any strangers asked about her. That was what Plutt always put it down in the calendar as, and having someone else say the same thing may be useful. Neither Plutt nor Korso knew where she actually was though, no one did, only Maz.

**'**

Her phone pinged, it was a message from Korso:

**Already had the Knot-heads in asking after you, Iti-rā. They were pretty pissed at losing you. We gave them nothing. Stay safe and stay hidden. K**

**'**

If she hadn't been so close to her heat, some of the tension would have left her body. There would probably be fallout from this, but for now, she was safe.

Finn tried to give her breakfast but she refused, already her stomach was cramping, so she just stuck to water.

**'**

The Heat Room was in the basement, it was completely sound proofed and kept cool at all times. There was a fridge freezer, a small shower, a sink and a loo. There was a mattress on the floor with a plastic cover under the sheet, plus a large pile of blankets and that was it, but that was all you needed really.

Rey had never asked how other Omega's dealt with their heats, but over the years she had found that a cocktail of diphenhydramine, valium and amitriptyline, along with marijuana worked for her. She tired to stay passed out as much as she possibly could, when she was awake she used ice packs, cold showers and a vibrator if she really had to, but ideally she liked to be as comatose as possible.

If she needed food she had energy bars until it was over, after which Finn and Poe always provided a large meal before she left for home. They were able to supply the marijuana as well, it was a full service for a nominal fee. The S. ' stayed afloat mostly by anonymous donations, and by the kind, caring betas who ran them.

**'**

Her cramps were just becoming unbearable when Poe emerged, a large plastic bag of soiled bedding in hand.

Rey barely greeted him before she was heading down to the basement, happy to hear the snick of the lock at the top of the stairs behind her. At the bottom of the stairs was another door, this one could only be locked from the inside with three deadbolts for extra piece of mind.

Once in, Rey stripped down to her already slick panties and vest top and arranged her things around the side of the mattress within easy reach.

She had fully charged her mp3 player and power bank and pressed the ear buds firmly into her ears. Heavy metal was the best thing to drown out the noises she made - she hated the sounds she produced when in heat and anything she could do to lessen it helped.

She started with Five Finger Death Punch, as she swallowed her first dose of meds then rolled and lit a joint, ignoring her body as much as was humanly possible before the meds kicked in. The weed helped with the tension and cramps and she knew how much she could take before whiteying - throwing up on top of heat symptoms sucked ubelievably hard.

Rey put all thoughts of anything other than the music, out of her head and settled down for the duration.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

For some reason, Kylo had been unable to keep the little Omega out of his head, the memory of her scent curled through his mind, refusing to leave him in peace.

He now knew more about her, from Plutt and the men he had watching her. Despite her reaction to his offer of sharing her heat, he was confident that when her next one came and he knocked on her door, she would change her mind. It would just a waiting game.

So he was more than furious when he was informed she had given her tail the slip and disappeared. His men reported that Plutt confirmed she would be absent from work for the next five days, but had no idea where she would be, none of the other employees had been any help and the information he'd gathered from those that had been keeping an eye on her led him to believe she didn't have any male friends who she may be staying with, or any other friends really.

Yet he refused to be thwarted, Plutt had given him her mobile number and he had Finch working on hacking it now. He may have to punish her for causing him so much trouble, but he'd get a hold of her. He could feel the beginnings of his rut tense his muscles just thinking about having her.

He had had a few Omegas over the years, but most liked to be mated and cared for and he wasn't interested in settling down with anyone. The age of consent and marriage laws for an Omega was 14, so most were taken at a young age, unmated ones were rare.

Rare and delicious.

**'**

It was four hours after she had disappeared that they got a location. Google maps indicated that it was just a private house, a middle class part of town, quiet. Could this mean she had an Alpha already?

He felt jealous anger ripple across his skin, he wasn't above swooping in and stealing her away. He and Hux took a car, with a few guys in another for backup in case they were stepping into something more.

The house was nondescript, a detached two story with a new mini parked in front of the garage. It made him think of Betas, and when he and the others got out and made their way up the path, there was no trace of Alpha, apart from him and the men with him.

And he could smell her, it was very faint and fading but he was certain he could, so he, Hux, Marek and Dano followed her scent and the path around the house to the back, while the others stayed at the front.

The back door was locked when Marek tried the handle so he knocked and furtive movement sounded from just behind the door.

"I've come to collect my Omega," Kylo called to whomever was there, "Either you open up or we break it down."

"We've called the police, they're on the way. I'd suggest leaving now," a man's voice answered back.

Kylo sighed and gestured at Marek and Dano, they started to ram their shoulders against the door, but on their second try, it was opened and they found themselves looking down the barrel of a shotgun.

Kylo raised his eyebrows in surprised amusement as he looked at the two betas, "A little overkill surely?" Then he caught a stronger scent of the girl and felt his blood sing, he yanked the barrel of the gun, jerking it to the side and out of their grasp, they never would have used it anyway. "Where's the girl?"

The taller one shook his head, "There's no girl here, this is a home invasion and the police are on the way." The whites of his eyes were showing.

Kylo and the others pushed he and the other man aside, he shivered as he caught layer upon layer of Omega scent, they'd obviously tried to bleach it out but being Beta's hadn't been able to tell traces remained.

Kylo smiled, "And what will they say when I tell them this is a Heat House?" he asked as he looked around the kitchen they were in, filtering the air and making straight for the basement door.

The shorter man scoffed, "You can't prove that!"

Hux rolled his eyes derisively, "Betas. It's obvious to any Alpha."

"You have a choice," Kylo told them as he studied the locked door, "Either you let me take the girl, and I keep quiet about this house and what you do, or I will take her anyway but also inform the police, post your address on the internet and make sure you cannot set up another one somewhere else. Your choice."

"_She_ has a choice! And her choice is to be left alone! You don't own her, you haven't marked her, so she isn't yours to take," the shorter man with curly hair grit out angrily, eyes flashing.

Kylo bared his teeth at them and broke down the door. It took a few tries, but soon it burst open, revealing a dimly lit set of stairs and another door at the bottom. Her scent was strong here and he breathed it in, allowing it to coat the back of his mouth. This time, there was no scent of orange to cover it, it was pure and thick and utterly delectable.

"I'll go down alone," Kylo threw over his shoulder as he descended, barely aware of any response.

The second door was tougher but now his rut was coiling in his muscles and sinews, it splintered and broke open straight away.

He staggered as the overwhelming scent hit him like a wave, yet it didn't smell quite right, there was a haze of smoke in the air and he caught the scent of weed... but there was something very wrong with the nearly naked girl lying on a mattress on the floor.

She was unconscious, her hips jerked slightly but she made no other movement, there were medication packets strewn about by her head. He felt his hackles raise as his rut, his need to knot, dissolved while his Alpha need to protect an Omega flared to life.

He hurriedly knelt next to her, tried to shake her awake but her limp limbs and head just lolled bonelessly with the movement. She was completely unresponsive.

"What have you done?" he muttered frantically as he checked her pulse. It was too slow, her breathing was too shallow. He needed to get her out of here.

He pulled off his long wool coat, wrapping her carefully in it, cocooning her in his scent and before he went upstairs he licked over her scent glands, covering her in his scent even more. While he trusted his men, most of them were Alphas too.

Her scent exploded on his palate and he had to pause after he had done it, take a moment to steady himself before he was carrying her unconscious form upstairs.

"What have you done to her?" the taller beta cried as soon as he saw them.

"Did you know she drugged herself? _Poisoned?_" he snarled back, utterly livid they would interfere with an Omega like _this_, yet alone at all.

They looked alarmed, "What do you mean, poisoned? Most of them use weed," the shorter beta said.

Kylo didn't have time for their bullshit, "Dano, grab her stuff from downstairs. Leave the drugs though." He looked at the Betas, "I will be watching you, if you ever do anything like this again, I will kill you both."

As he turned to leave the way he came, the taller one yelled, "Wait! She's a virgin!"

His whole body stilled as it flushed, he turned his head slowly to regard the beta who shrank back against the other, as he enunciated, "What did you just say?"

The beta swallowed, "She's a virgin. She's... she's terrified of Alphas cos she was attacked by one when she first presented. He was stopped in time but she is petrified of being knotted."

Fuck.

This was not turning out the way he'd planned. It didn't matter, she was his now, he'd take care of her.

"Noted," he grit out, then left, moving fast, holding her tight against him. He needed to get her back home and safe.

* * *

**A/N: If you aren't sure what ABO is or are confused by anything, feel free to message me or leave a review, I'm happy to answer any questions :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This is where the fic earns it's Dubious Consent tag, proceed at your own risk.**

**'**

**Chapter 3**

**'**

Although Marek floored it and raced them back to his home, Kylo chafed at how long it took.

"If you feed her salt water when we're back that should get her to throw up anything left in her stomach," Hux offered as he scrolled through his phone, a cloth held against his nose.

Kylo nodded curtly, "I'd thought of that, but won't that dehydrate her? The heat will have already done that, I can feel her burning through my coat."

Hux shrugged, "You'll just have to feed her as much water as you can when she comes around. The throwing up should wake her. I'll make sure the fridge is stocked and keep an eye on things while you're busy."

"I'll have my phone on," Kylo told him, "I'll check it regularly, any problems, I want to know."

**'**

Once they were back at his house, he took Rey straight to his room and into the ensuite, laying her in the bath while he waited for Hux to mix salt water and bring it up. He stripped down to his jeans, his own body hot.

Feeding her the salt water wasn't easy, and he had to slap her around the face a little, the Alpha in him cringing as he did so but determined all the same.

She coughed as he fed her, spluttering and raising her head a little on her own, he layered his voice with Alpha command as he rested the rim of the pint glass against her lips again, "_You must drink, Omega._"

With a little shiver, she obediently parted her lips and she blindly swallowed, gagging slightly. She drank half before her felt her retch and placed a bowl infront her as she spewed up heave after heave of liquid.

He felt some small measure of relief when she finished, her eyes slid open a little as she tried to sit up on her own.

"_Now drink this, Omega_," he gave her a glass of pure, cold water, watching in satisfaction as she drank greedily, stroking sweaty strands of her hair away from her face as he nuzzled the sensitive skin on her neck, unable to stop licking over her scent glands again.

He was pleased when she arched her neck against his mouth, a little whimper passing her lips and he moved his hands to skim down her arms, stroking her scorching skin, raising goosebumps in his wake. A happy rumble sounded in his chest.

Her eyes opened a little more, they were hazel, green and gold, beautiful. A small moan sounded as she looked at him, there was some confusion in her expression but it fled as she curled her knees up against her chest and hissed with obvious pain.

Kylo licked her scent gland again, resisting the urge to bite, to mate her, instead covering it with his tongue and lips.

She gasped, and a shudder passed through her, "Please, Alpha."

It was whispered, desperate, and he groaned.

"Say it again, Omega."

Her eyes opened wider and she bit her lip, then, "_Please, Alpha_."

Kylo gathered her into his arms and strode into the bedroom, placing her gently on his queen size before locking his door and placing a chair against it for good measure.

He pulled his jeans off as they were uncomfortable now, too restrictive, before lying down next to where she was curled up, her breath coming in pants.

"Shhh, little one. I'll take care of you," he started running his hands over her body and she slowly uncurled.

"_Please_ Alpha, I _need_…" she trailed off as if she wasn't sure what it was she needed.

Kylo smiled, his inner Alpha preening as he gazed down at her, "I know what you need, little one."

Her panties were loose and soaked and came off easily, his mouth watered as he bared her completely, but he realised he couldn't actually bring himself to knot her, _he just couldn't. _It was as uncharacteristic as it was bewildering, this imperative to put her needs and wants above his own.

There were other ways he could help her, he'd told her he'd take care of her, and that is what he would do.

He gently parted her legs and settled between them, then swiped his tongue along her, groaning as her taste flooded his mouth, drenched his senses. She started mewling immediately, hips jerking and he sucked her clit into his mouth as he gently slid a finger inside her.

Despite her slick she was tight, her greedy muscles clamping down and pulling him in, it was barely a minute before she came, gushing into his mouth, her back arching. He didn't stop though, determined to make her come, over and over again until she passed out naturally.

It wasn't long before she was grinding into his mouth, and he added another finger, curling them inside her, giving her what she needed...

**'**

As she slept, he went about making a nest in his walk in wardrobe as he was worried she'd panic when she next woke.

She didn't stir when he removed the sweat soaked vest she was still wearing, her little breasts were perfect, the soft curves and pink nipples made his hands itch, burning to touch her, to press his lips over her pert, delicious nipples, to taste her skin and mark every part of her. He did none of this however, she needed to rest while she could, her small body had the drugs to burn off, besides the hormones currently raging in her blood. She was already too thin, too light in his arms, he found he _hated_ how her ribs showed so much, but that was okay, he would change that.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

Rey awoke with a whimper, confused by the dim light and overpowered by the thick, heavy scent of Alpha. She was surrounded by soft things saturated by the scent of Mr. Ren, yet somehow, it smelled good, right somehow. Her heat muddled brain didn't allow her to think about how this could be, or where she was, all it knew was that her cramps had started up once more and she whined at the swelling pain, turning to curl in on herself to try and mitigate it somehow.

There was a small sound and she looked up to see Mr. Ren on his knees, looking at her carefully in the doorway of wherever she was.

"Do you need help, little one?" his voice was a warm, deep purr.

It made her pussy clench and she gasped and nodded jerkily, the omega inside her taking the reins for once, "_Please_."

He moved towards her, somehow managing to stalk even though he crawled. His warm hands ran up her bare legs, making her shiver with want as he came to a stop between her parted thighs.

His pale skin almost glowed softly in the low light, his loose hair hid his face as he settled himself before roughly pulling her hips so her pussy rested against his mouth.

Her squeak of shock turned into a moan as his mouth moved on her, licking and sucking her sensitive, swollen flesh. Goosebumps and shivers wracked her body as he slid two fingers inside her, it was shocking but wonderful and soon she was wantonly riding them, almost crying as she came.

She lost herself to sensation, to the beautiful pleasure that bloomed inside her, until she was overwhelmed by it.

**'**

The next time she woke she was more lucid, thirsty and afraid. She was also alone. Picking up a blanket, she wrapped herself in it before creeping cautiously out of what looked like a huge cupboard.

She froze when she saw Mr. Ren sitting on a bed, he had loose jogging pants on but no top, his chiseled chest distracted her for a second before he looked up at her and smiled slightly.

As he stood, she flinched, and his smile disappeared, "You must be thirsty," he held out a bottle of water but frowned when she didn't take it, "I won't hurt you, Rey."

She swallowed, her lips were cracked with dehydration and her throat was _so_ dry, the sides of it felt like it was trying to stick together, to choke her … she darted forward and snatched the water, retreating back into the cupboard with it.

She hunched in a corner and ripped the lid off, guzzling it as fast as she could, it made her feel a little light-headed but she carried on until it was empty.

When she finished, she looked up to see Mr. Ren kneeling in the doorway again, eyes fixed on her, "You should eat something," he held out a paper plate with strips of chicken and vegetables.

Rey's stomach growled audibly and if she wasn't already flushed from her heat, she would have blushed.

Mr. Ren's lips quirked slightly and he put the plate down, nudging it further towards her before moving away a little.

Hunger won out and she grabbed it, stuffing the food into her mouth, barely chewing before swallowing it down.

A low rumble had her looking up, he had remained where he sat but there was a look of deep satisfaction on his face. Somehow it warmed her insides, the low purr relaxing her tense shoulders.

He continued to watch her eat but she was too hungry to be embarrassed, and when she was done, he handed her another bottle of water.

By this time, she could feel her heat start to rear its head again, and a little fear began to curl its way through her, "I need my medication, do you have it?"

The purr cut off and his expression turned almost angry, "No. You don't need it and what you were taking was dangerous."

Rey glared at him, ignoring the little voice that lived inside her as it wailed at making her Alpha angry, "It's fine, I've been using them for years."

"_No,_" this time she felt the Alpha command in his words, she shivered. His tone softened slightly, "I will help you through it, without drugs."

Rey shook her head as she shrank back, holding the blanket tightly against herself, "No, I... I don't want that, you can't."

"Shh," he crooned hypnotically, "Hush little one, I won't knot you. Let me take care of you, Omega."

Rey shivered again as her some of her fear dissipated, her biology betraying her, leaving behind just a yawning chasm of need.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

Kylo crawled towards her and gently tugged the blanket away from her body, she only resisted slightly, eyes fixed on his face as she panted lightly.

He hated how unsure and afraid she was, so he gently pulled her body to him, nuzzling her neck before sucking on her scent gland till she relaxed, sighing softly as she surrendered again. When he was sure her fear had subsided, when the heady scent of her was pure and needy once more, he lay her down and finally latched onto one of her sweet nipples, swiping his tongue around the already bud as his fingers slid between her legs.

Her back arched and her hips started to jerk as she gasped and whimpered, he changed nipples and used his teeth a little, which she seemed to like and he was unable to repress an uncharacteristic grin against her skin as she came.

It was so hard, (he was so hard), ignoring his own need was painful, and in her down time he'd had to jerk off which had been entirely, miserably unsatisfying. Yet he was somehow still able to control himself, simply unable to let himself hurt her, the need to protect his Omega and not frighten her was miraculously overriding his biological urges. So he helped her through it once more, using his fingers, lips, tongue and teeth.

This time, when she passed out, he curled around her, smothering a groan as his body came into contact with hers. Biting his lip as his engorged, throbbing cock touched the slick backs of her thighs through his boxers and he buried his face in the nape of her neck. She murmured sweetly in her sleep, pressing back against him and he wondered if he'd be able to last till the end of her heat… he shook his head slightly to himself, he'd just have to, and perhaps then she'd see that going through her heat with an Alpha wasn't bad, maybe she would come to him for her next one and he'd be able to knot her. He groaned again, huffing against her neck as he slid his fingers down her stomach, through the small thatch of hair to her soaking pussy as he mouthed at her neck again.

Rey moaned, still half asleep, but her hips began to move, each jerk making contact with his cock and it was at once both wonderful and maddening, ecstasy and agony.

A small part of his mind pointed out that if he just bit her, she would accept him, even beg for him to fuck her, _beg for his knot._ His breath hissed out and he moved his mouth away from her neck, instead mouthing at her shoulder, biting that as gently as he could manage.

Hux had a 'courtesan' on standby for when Rey's heat finished, he wouldn't be able to knot her, but he'd be able to fuck her long and hard and hopefully that would be enough.

It became too much though, the feel of Rey against him, her sweet and heady scent invading his head, the way she moaned even in her sleep, and he regretfully had to slide away.

A whine of protest left her lips at his absence, and he felt a wave of pleasure over how she needed him, even if it was only her subconscious that knew it.

He settled once more between her legs and she immediately pushed her hips up to meet his mouth; she was learning, yielding to him.

For now, it was enough.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

To Rey's surprise, her heat didn't last as long as usual and by the end of it, being near Mr. Ren didn't frighten her nearly as much as it should have. She was still wary and shy and she was fairly sure he had found that funny but tried to hide it as he had carried her into the ensuite walk-in shower. She wasn't sure why he'd insisted on carrying her, or why they needed to shower together, yet it had felt almost... nice, being taken care of like that.

At least he had let her dress on her own, leaving her in the bathroom with her backpack haphazardly stuffed full of her things.

And that made reality crash through the bubble she had been existing in. _How the fuck was she here? Where _was _here exactly and what the hell had happened? Were Finn and Poe okay?_

She pulled on her jeans and tshirt, wincing at the brush of fabric on her still sensitive skin, anger and fear crackling through her. Her phone was dead, probably due to lack of charging other than something more sinister, but it made her feel even more anxious about her situation.

For a few moments she stalled, unsure what would happen when she left the bathroom, half of her was afraid he wouldn't let her leave… but then, he hadn't knotted her, he'd done other things to her and she was vaguely cognizant that she had asked him to, but he hadn't done _that._

_So what the hell was this?_ She shook her head at herself, then shut her bag and put it on, the sooner she could get out of here, the better.

**'**

To her relief, she found Mr. Ren was fully dressed. He was scrolling through his phone but put it down when she stepped out of the bathroom as she hovered by the door.

"There is something I would like to discuss with you, Rey," his tone was serious. Rey didn't respond and he carried on, "What you did, what you've been doing, is dangerous. It's a miracle you haven't died or been seriously ill from the drugs you take. You will not do that again."

_Like it was any of his fucking business! _Rey glared at him and he looked a little surprised, "How am I here? Why?"

He stood and walked towards her, brows drawn down, "That doesn't matter now, don't you see that I can take care of you? That I won't hurt you? I want you to spend your heats with me, somewhere safe and I want you to see my doctor, to make sure you haven't damaged your liver or kidneys."

Confusion overcame her anger, her experience of Alpha's was limited but this wasn't the behaviour she expected from one. Even so… "I'm fine on my own."

Mr. Ren made a frustrated noise, "No, you're not. What if you O.D? Those betas at the house you were in wouldn't know until it was too late. You can trust me Rey," his voice lowered, it's timbre seeming to vibrate through her body, "I wouldn't do anything you didn't want me to."

He moved his arm up as if to stroke her cheek but she flinched away from him, "You had me followed. You basically kidnapped me, why would I trust you?"

A flash of pain rippled across his face, "Have I hurt you?" he kept stepping towards her until her back was against the wall and she had nowhere else to go, "Did I do anything else other than take care of you?" his voice deepened again, "There are so many things I could have done to you, Omega, yet all I did was give you the relief and pleasure you needed."

Rey felt her pulse quicken and her breath hitch as a shiver went down her spine, she looked away from him, "Why?" she asked suspiciously, "What's in it for you?"

He sighed as if she were being unreasonable, "I get to spend time with an Omega, I get to know that you aren't out there alone, risking your life."

Part of her wanted to believe him, the stupid, weak, Omega part; the rest of her told her that this was bullshit and reminded her that he was a fucking crime lord.

"If you want me to trust you, tell me the truth - how did you find me? Did you hurt Finn or Poe?"

He stepped back, a sneer on his face as he said, "The betas? No, I didn't hurt them. I tracked your phone."

She'd need a new phone then, "What did you do with my motorbike?"

"Nothing, I didn't see it when we found you," he was frowning again.

Rey nodded and stepped around him, she needed to get out of here, hopefully find a taxi.

"Where are you going?"

A huge, warm hand caught her arm, she stopped but didn't look at him, "Home."

"You should eat before you go, then I can get my driver to take you."

Rey shook her head, ignoring her empty stomach, how her muscles trembled and how light her head felt, "I'm fine, I'll take a cab."

He made another frustrated noise, fingers tightening on her arm, but then sighed and let it go, "Fine, but Mitaka will take you… he's a beta."

Her arm felt cold without his hand on it. She decided there wasn't anything wrong with getting a lift, she'd get home quicker and save money, "Okay."

He nodded unhappily and led her out of the bedroom, the house turned out to be large, the downstairs was set up more like a hotel lobby, sofas by the doors occupied by Alphas, obviously guards.

There was also a beautiful woman sitting on a chair chatting to a small nervous looking beta. They both looked up as Rey and Kylo neared, the woman giving Kylo a very warm smile as she stood.

"Mitaka, take Rey home," Mr. Ren told the beta, then turned on his heel and left, the woman following him.

Rey knew a hooker when she saw one. She was disturbed to feel something akin to jealousy twist her stomach, but was distracted by the beta, Mitaka, clearing his throat.

"If you'll come with me, miss."

Rey hunched in on herself as she passed the other Alphas, keeping her eyes on Mitaka's back. Unlike Mr Ren, their scent made her feel nauseous and she was glad to get outside and breathe clean air again.

Mitaka led her to an audi parked on the circular drive, and oddly held open the back door for her.

To her relief, he didn't try to make small talk, and she lost herself in the thoughts churning inside her head, not really paying any attention to where they were.

**'**

The first thing she did when she got home was plug her phone in and the next was stuff herself full of all the available food. That mainly constituted cereal, toast and apples - she needed to go shopping, but almost immediately fell asleep instead.

It was dark when she woke and found her phone up and running again with loads of missed calls and frantic messages from Finn.

Rey bit her lip guiltily and called him.

"Oh my god, Rey! Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Where are you?"

"It's okay, Finn, I'm okay. I'm at home. Are you and Poe okay? What happened? He didn't tell me."

He heaved a sigh at the end of the phone but he still sounded worried, "I'm so sorry we didn't keep you safe, Rey."

"It's not your fault, Finn. I'm sorry I exposed the S.H.H, he tracked my phone, it didn't occur to me that he could do that."

"Don't worry honey, I'm just glad you're okay… you sure he didn't hurt you? You know you can tell me."

Rey took a breath and shook her head even though he couldn't see her, "He didn't… he didn't knot me. I don't know why, but he didn't."

She heard Finn let out a breath of his own, as if he'd been holding it, "Okay, that's good… We've still got your bike here, did you want Poe to ride it over for you? He can probably hotwire it or something."

Rey snorted, "No he can't. I'll come get it this evening if that's okay with you?"

"It would be good to see you, honey. Real good. We'll be in."

"Thanks, Finn, see you in a bit."

"You too."

She hung up and stretched, then took a shower in an attempt to get as much of Mr. Ren's scent off her as possible. His scent lingered, despite her best efforts, but it lessened it at least and the fresh clothes helped too. Everything that was made of a washable material went in the washing machine, including her backpack.

After finding a clean beanie and wrapping herself up against the cold, she ventured out and caught the bus to the S.H.H, though perhaps she should stop calling it that. _Why had Mr. Ren done this? _He hadn't explained that to her, though undoubtedly it would be down to the over entitlement that any Alpha felt over an Omega.

Fucking knot-heads.

Finn enveloped her in a hug as soon as he opened the door, Poe following suit before holding her at arms length and studying her minutely.

"I wasn't lying, I'm okay," she told them, "Did he do any damage? Did he hurt you?"

They filled her in on what had happened, by the time they were done she felt sick with guilt. "I'm so, so sorry, let me pay for the damaged doors at least."

Finn shook his head, "It's fine honey, this happens sometimes, we have someone organising another house somewhere else, it should be set up in a few weeks, don't you worry."

Rey sighed but nodded, then yawned hugely.

Poe chuckled, "Looks like you need to rest more, sweetheart. Off you go while you're still safe to ride."

They hugged goodbye, the uncomplicated smell of beta comforting, before she rode home through the cold night. She was shivering, teeth chattering by the time she got home and she crawled into bed straight away, snuggling under her duvet and blankets.

Her mind didn't allow her to go straight to sleep though, ever since Finn had told their end of what had happened, her mind had been roiling with conflicting emotions. It was bewildering, she knew she wasn't pretty, the only interest from men she garnered occured if they knew she was an Omega, and a man of Kylo's influence could surely find a willing Omega if he wanted to, _so why her?_ And why had he been so angry over the way she dealt with her heat?

She had so many questions, ones that would likely never be answered and thinking about them wouldn't help her sleep, so she resolutely pushed everything from her mind.

Sleep was still a long time in coming, she found she missed the warmth of another body and when she finally slid into slumber, her dreams were full of Mr. Ren.

'


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

'

Kylo's Alpha didn't want to let Rey go, it railed against her leaving him, attempted to arrest his movement and stop him from walking away from her, snarling furiously inside his head as it tried to take over, ordering him to take her, mate her, make her _his_ permanently.

But he wasn't an animal, not all the time anyway, and he let her go.

For now.

**'**

Oola was beautiful and highly skilled, while she couldn't take a knot she specialised in Alphas, in knot massage and relief. Yet though he had spent _hours_ fucking her, Kylo was still left wanting.

He almost hadn't wanted to even touch her, Rey's delicious scent was strong, her intoxicating cocktail of sunshine, mint and honey clinging to his skin and clothing, despite having taken Oola to the spare bedroom furthest from his own. But his body was wound so painfully tight - he knew the slightest thing would make him snap and he needed to be in control. So he wrestled his Alpha down, wilfully banishing it to the back of his mind where it belonged.

Regardless of all her skills, his time with Oola left him dissatisfied and hollow, a sour taste in his mouth and a lingering feeling of emptiness.

His earlier conviction that Rey would be amenable to spending her heats with him, turned out to have been jumping the gun a bit. He couldn't deny that even part of his rational self truly regretted not biting her.

**'**

Perhaps it was finally time he found an Omega of his own, yet as he tried to decide on what his ideal one would be like, the picture in his head kept morphing into Rey.

He gave up thinking and went and found Hux, in the hope that taking care of business would take his mind off her.

**'**

Once he and Hux had covered what he'd missed, he looked into Unkar Plutt more closely. The idea of Rey working in such an environment everyday disturbed him more than it should. It made him remember why they had first met, her request that he take on her debt so she could leave Plutt.

He could offer her a job with him, but he was fairly sure she wouldn't want to be around so many Alphas... his father however, ran a garage across town, they hadn't spoken in years, yet to his surprise, he found that for Rey, he would at least try.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

Unkar didn't question Rey over being back a day earlier than expected, only grunted at her and shoved a clipboard into her hands.

It was a relief to be back at work, Unkar was the worst, but she did love cars and mechanics, even if what they mostly did was strip cars down here.

Korso greeted her, patting her on her back with a massive hand, "Good to see you, Iti-rā. You look well, not as worn as usual."

Rey felt herself blush as she shrugged, "Good to see you too. Any trouble while I was gone?"  
"Apart from the knot-heads?" he chuckled, "No, just work, work, work. But why the blushing?"

Rey rolled her eyes at him, "You know I don't like talking about it."

He patted her again, "Of course, Iti-rā," and he lumbered away, leaving her to the Jag she had the dubious pleasure of reducing to parts.

For the next few days, life returned to normal. Rey worked a twelve hour day. Unkar was grumpy and mean. Korso somehow made her smile, Teedo made her want to throw a wrench at his face and the other employees mostly ignored her.

This was her life, she would have to learn to accept it. After all, it could be worse - whatever Unkar's faults, he had hidden her designation from the authorities. If he hadn't, she would probably have been mated at fourteen.

She was lucky.

She _was,_ and one day she hoped she would actually feel that way.

And if her thoughts strayed to Mr Ren, not constantly, not a lot, _not really_, but... she'd remember his scent at random moments, she'd shiver over the memory of his unique blend of ginger, warm amber, something akin to wood smoke and chai, and underlying it all, the unmistakable scent of an oncoming storm.

It had filled up her head till nothing else remained, unable to escape it, no matter how many candles she burned or tea tree she inhaled. When asleep, she'd dream about his large hands on her body, about his wicked, sensual lips, what he had done to her, how it had felt. She'd miss the heat of him protectively curled around her, or how dark and soft his eyes could be before switching to hot and mesmerising…

It was stupid and foolish and _of course_ her Omega was to blame for all of it - there was nothing rational or true behind these insufferable feelings, it was just cursed biology… but it was hard to ignore all the same.

Still, this too would pass, eventually, anyway.

She hoped.

As she was sitting at home one evening, programming a new phone as she was uncomfortable knowing that Mr Ren had been able to track her, her old phone rang.

It was an unknown number, so she ignored it and carried on with what she was doing but when she noticed a voicemail alert from the same number, her curiosity won over.

'_Hi, this is Han Solo of Solo Motors, I'm calling for a Rey Sannds? I've had a mechanic spot free up and you were recommended. Give me a call back when you get this and we can organise an interview if you're interested.' _

For a moment, Rey felt giddy with excitement, but disbelief and suspicion quickly overrode those feelings as she thought it through, - _how would the owner of Solo motors have even heard of her? How would he have got her number?_ She wasn't listed anywhere as looking for work, Unkar would have had apoplexy if she ever did that and Solo Motors was on the other side of the city, she only knew of it by reputation and it was a much more wholesome one than Plutt's Garage.

So this was a prank or something more sinister, either way, she didn't ring back.

**'**

The next day at work, as she and Korso were discussing how far you could actually throw Teedo verses how much you could trust him, the scent of Alpha caught Rey's nose.

"_Shit_, knot-head," Rey muttered at Korso as she shoved her mug of coffee into his large hand and rushed around the opposite side of the merc they'd been leaning on, hunkering down and straining her ears for any movement.

The office door slammed open and Rey flinched as Unkar bellowed, "_Girl!"_

She could scent the Alpha more clearly now, he was outside, or rather, _they_ were outside with Unkar, _what the hell was he playing at?_ Fear replaced her irritation - _had he finally become sick of her? _She swallowed bile as she glanced at the top of the eight foot razor wire topped fence that rose beyond the garage buildings, she didn't know if she'd make it over before they caught her and if she did, she'd be unlikely to escape injury.

"She ain't' here, Unkar," Korso rumbled, "Popped out, might be a while."

Her skin prickled and started to get hot as her pulse jumped in her throat.

"Miss Sannds, please come out, we wish you no harm."

The voice was vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it. There was the sound of boots crunching on pitted concrete and she started to crawl around the merc so she was closer to the fence.

"Ukar, she-" Korso started, but was interrupted.

"Shut it, Korso, you're skating on thin ice as it is!"

That was when Rey noticed another Alpha, he had approached downwind of her, while she'd been distracted. He made a calming motion with his hands, as if he weren't threatening, as if he weren't a predator.

It had the opposite effect, Rey sprang to her feet, darting away from him towards the other side of the garage.

The shouts that followed her were ignored, unheard, as her sole focus was taken up with getting away. She had no plan, no idea where she would go or how she would get there, all that mattered was remaining free.

She was halfway up the fence when they caught her, her boots weren't good for climbing and made gaining purchase on the chain-link difficult.

A terrified shriek ripped from her throat as she felt her legs grabbed, kicking out as she was dragged away from the fence.

"Calm dow- _ow!_"

Rey redoubled her efforts until someone's hand found her neck and squeezed, putting pressure on her glands Her body lost its fight or flight instinct and she went suddenly limp.

Someone held onto her as someone else brushed strands of hair away from her face and she blinked up at Mr Ren's man, Hux.

"We are just here to speak with you, nothing more," his voice was oddly gentle and he nodded and let go of her neck.

"Get your hands off her!"

There was the sound of flesh meeting flesh as Korso tried to get to her.

"Shut him up or knock him out, Marek," Hux's tone lost its gentleness as his lip curled in disgust, "Beta's should know their place."

Rey summoned a glare, "Don't hurt him!"

Hux looked back at her and raised his eyebrows slightly, "If you can get him to behave, we won't have to."

With a shake, she shrugged away from whomever had been holding onto her to look at where Korso was trying to get past a similar sized Alpha, "Korso, it's okay, leave it."

His body paused its movement as he studied her, "You sure, Iti-rā?"

He already looked the worse for wear and Rey felt the sting of guilt.

"I'm sure," she told him, even though she wasn't.

A sigh gusted out of him and his stance relaxed, he backed a few paces away from them but stayed near. She loved him for that, he was the brother she had never had.

"Please join me in the office, Miss Sannds," Hux said over his shoulder as he walked away.

As Rey followed him, she passed Unkar, who gave her the filthiest look she had ever seen, _what the hell was going on?_ He didn't join them in his office, relegated to watching from outside.

Hux looked briefly at Unkar's decrepit chair before grimacing and choosing to stand, the alpha who'd had hold of her joined them and shut the door, leaning against it and ruefully rubbing his jaw.

"We are here to inform you that Mr Ren has paid off your debt to Mr Plutt," Hux started.

Rey sat down abruptly, _surely she had misheard him?_ But no, he carried on as if this wasn't _life _changing.

"He felt it would be prudent to have someone here in case there was any trouble over the news. If you would like to clear out your locker, and collect any personal items, we will wait and escort you off the premises."

There was a burning sensation in her eyes and her throat felt almost too choked to breathe… _could this be true?_ _But what payment would he exact?_ Undoubtedly Mr Ren would demand his pound of flesh.

It was necessary to cough a little to clear her throat before she could answer.

"And what does he want in return?" she asked bitterly, "I think I made myself clear at our first meeting that I wouldn't whore myself out to him."

Hux merely rolled his eyes slightly and shrugged, "_Gratis_, he wants nothing…" he studied her with pale green eyes, head cocked to one side, "You should be getting a call from Solo Motors in the next few days, too."

Rey waited for the other shoe to drop, but it didn't come. After several moments of her just sitting and blinking up at Hux, he sighed and folded his arms.

"Really, Miss Sannds, that is it. Now, I don't have all day and the less time I spend in this cesspit, the better. Please collect your things."

In a daze, Rey rose from her seat and teetered her way out of the office to her locker. Unkar had disappeared but Korso joined her almost instantly, stubbornly glaring at one of the Alpha's who tensed at his proximity.

"What is going on?" he asked as quietly as his booming voice could manage.

Wasting no time, Rey started shoving things into her backpack, "I may have met Mr Ren a few weeks ago," she admitted lowly, "long story short, he paid off my debt and I'm free to leave Plutt in the dust," she hesitated before adding, a little disbelievingly, "And he doesn't want anything in return."

Korso frowned, "If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Why would you trust this man, this _knot-head_, Iti-rā?"

Rey glanced behind her where she could see Hux waiting in the office out of the cold, as she worried her lip between her teeth. She couldn't say exactly why, but she believed Hux, and they hadn't hurt her, they weren't trying to kidnap her again… still, looks could be deceiving, as she well knew.

"Maybe I'll move flats or something. They're just here till I get my stuff, then they're going and I won't have to see them again. I've just got free of Unkar, please believe me when I say I'm never letting anyone use me again."

The large beta's concerned expression didn't ease, but all he said was, "Well, don't let down your guard for a while, and don't be a stranger, Iti-rā. There is always a space for you on my sofa and I'll always answer your call."

Suddenly, the enormity of the situation finally hit her, the garage had been her world for most of her life and the huge part it had played had suddenly come to an end.

_What was she going to do?_

_Anything,_ a little voice said inside her answered, for once not the pathetic Omega, _you can do anything._

A large hand awkwardly patting her back brought her back to her body and she let out a huff of air.

"Thanks Korso," she smiled, "There's no way you're getting rid of me that easy."

**'**

Unkar said nothing to her as she left, just scowled furiously at her. In all honesty she couldn't blame him, not only must it have been a shock, but he'd had her over a barrel for years, used to the idea she would always be there, working her socks off in a wholly unrealistic attempt to pay him back.

She rode home through winter sunshine, pausing to pick up some Chinese and ice cream to celebrate her freedom, this was her Independence Day.

When she had eaten till her stomach was for once, too full, she put away her leftovers for tomorrow and nervously called back Solo Motors.

"What?" a gruff voice answered.

There was a scuffling noise and someone else said smoothly, "Hi, this is Solo Motors, how can I help you?"

"Err, hello?" Rey winced at her uncertain tone, swallowed and tried again, "Hi, my name's Rey Sannds, I got a message from Han Solo about an interview?"

"Ah, Miss Sannds, good to hear from you, I'm Lando, Han's out at the moment but would you like to come by for a chat tomorrow morning?"

A grin worthy of the Cheshire cat tugged at Rey's lips as she answered, "Yeah, that'd be, that would be great."

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

Kylo came to the unhappy realisation that Rey may never be his, not willingly anyway, and he wasn't desperate enough to push her into anything. But there was something he could do for her, a way to make her life safer, so he could sleep easier at night.

It was a novel experience, not being able to sleep for worry over someone else. Sure, there were other reasons he couldn't sleep, other concerns that kept him awake, though a lot of his business was conducted in the evening and at night, so that was less of a problem. But he knew thoughts of Rey, of the (his) delicate little Omega working in such an environment, was distracting him, his concern took up too much of his headspace, leaving room for little else.

Her debt to Plutt, while perhaps insurmountable to her, wasn't a drop in the ocean to him. Even though he disliked the grubby slob profiting from the situation, he preferred it to Rey staying with the man.

It had surprised him how quick his father was to agree to interview her, at least, once he'd stopped yelling at him, anyway.

"So what is this girl to you?"

Kylo had rolled his eyes to himself and pinched the bridge of his nose in the vain hope that it would somehow make him more patient.

"Nothing of consequence," he'd lied, "She's in a bad situation and needs an out… plus," here he hesitated, knowing Han would read into it, but it still had to be said, "She's an Omega, unmated, though she masks it. She's been working at Plutt's Garage for most of her life but I don't think it's a safe environment for her…" he trailed off, wishing he had thought about what he was going to say before picking up the phone. The truth was that while he had prepared, it had been with whiskey, not rehearsed words.

There had been a loaded pause, then, "An unmated Omega?"

_Here it comes…_

"Working at Plutt's? Poor kid, give me her number and I'll give her a call."

For a moment, Kylo blinked in sheer surprise at the phone, before reciting Rey's number.

"Thanks," he finished, perhaps stiffly, or awkwardly, he wasn't sure, "I appreciate it."

A snort had come in answer, "If that's really true, pop by yourself, or better yet, come to dinner."

"You know I can't do that," he shifted uncomfortably in his leather desk chair as he stared out of the window at the darkening sky, "It's not safe," _it will never be safe._

They hadn't spoken of it further, the call ended and Kylo had sat and gazed out of the window for longer than was necessary. The memory of Rey's scent and the silken feel of her skin under the pads of his fingertips, meant he didn't really see as the moon rose, the silver light casting deep shadows and brilliant highlights across the garden below the window.

He would set her free from Plutt, and hope, however vainly, that she would _choose_ to see him again.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm never sure about some tags or warnings, as they often give away some plot. Some things happen in this chapter that may require extra warnings. If you're concerned, please see the author's notes at the bottom. There will be pretty heavy angst. Also, designation discrimination, (though I guess that is quite a lot of ABO) plus power imbalance. **

**'**

**Chapter 5:**

**'**

Rey's life changed.

For the first time in her existence, it felt like she was living for herself.

Han, who had cringed hugely the only time she called him Mr Solo, had offered her a job on the spot.

Solo motors was crewed by a motley, yet close-knit group of employees and the hierarchy was a lot less defined than she was used to - everyone pitched in, even Han and Lando, the co-owner, did whatever was necessary to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

At first she had kept to herself, nervous around so many new people, some of whom were (mated) Alphas, but when she realised that they were treating her exactly the same as everyone else who worked there, she started to relax, to feel safe.

She was even working up to suggesting they had Korso in for an interview, so her friend could be free of Plutt too, and have a (somewhat) honest job.

In her spare time, which was still a novelty to her, she was looking for somewhere new to live, wanting a fresh start in every aspect of her life, as well as making it harder for Plutt to follow her.

Not that she thought he would, though, she had received a few angry text messages and voicemails, clearly when he'd been drinking, but that was the worst of it.

Finn and Poe had established a new S.H.H on the other side of the city and were already up and running. It was a huge relief to know that they would be there for her next heat, there were a few others in the city, but she _knew_ Finn and Poe and even though Mr Ren had abducted her last time, she still trusted them.

Life, (as much as it could be for an Omega), was good. She honestly couldn't imagine how things could get better... Sometimes the idea that she had Mr Ren to thank for all this, gave her pause, something a little like guilt and a little like defiance would shiver through her.

Occasionally when she woke up in the morning, in that hazy place between sleep and awake, she would feel an aching sense of loneliness and longing… but then she would open her eyes, and the feeling would either slip away, or she'd bury it.

Unfortunately her dreams were less easily dictated to and even though she kept busy, memories of Mr Ren would stubbornly resurface, along with the stupid Omega voice whining away inside her head; but she'd bury those things too, hidden away in the dark parts of her mind where she'd never have to think about them or wonder at their meaning.

As the weeks slipped into months and her next heat came closer, she started to make the necessary arrangements. This involved a horribly awkward conversation with Han, about taking time off, but they got through it somehow, and she hoped that next time wouldn't be quite so embarrassing.

For the first time in her life, she wasn't made to feel guilty or dirty for having her heat, there was no hint from Han that he thought she was merely slacking off, or that he begrudged her needing time away. It even lessened the stress she usually felt in the run up, not so fraught with nerves and anxiety.

It was another welcome change of situation.

'

Five days before her heat, she was surprised to receive a (sober and reasonable) text from Unkar:

**'**

**Found a box of ur stuff from when u was a kid. collect 2nite or im chucking it**

**'**

Although Rey couldn't remember leaving anything with him when she had moved out to her own place when she was nineteen, and while she wouldn't class herself as a sentimental person, the idea of Unkar throwing her things away before she could look them over, hurt a little. It was entirely probable that it would just be rubbish, but all the same, she shot him a text to say she'd be over after work.

**'**

The garage lights were low when she arrived, just the perimeter and office lights on as she pulled up her bike and made her way to the already open door.

"Girl," Unkar greeted her shortly, jerking his chin at a small box on his desk, "Want a coffee? I got that Americano stuff you like."

He seemed diminished somehow, smaller and less threatening than she remembered. It reminded her that this man, for all his failings, had raised her, had kept her safe. A bit of shame crept in over just cutting him out of her life the way she had.

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

The box proved to just be odds and ends, nothing of real value, but there were a few things she chose to keep - a photo of her in junior school, a figure of a bird she'd made from aluminium drinks cans, some pressed flowers that, while faded, had remarkably retained some of their violet colour.

"Heard you're working up at Solo Motors," Unkar said, and she looked up, taking a seat as he settled into his battered desk chair.

"Yeah," she agreed awkwardly, flushing a little as more guilt plagued her, "How've you been?"

Unkar grunted and absentmindedly scratched his chin, "You know, work, still looking for staff… you still with your boyfriend?"

Rey almost choked on her coffee, "_My what?_ I don't have a boyfriend. You know I don't do that kind of thing."

Unkar looked at her, then away quickly, an odd expression on his face that she couldn't identify, "I didn't think so, but wasn't sure, you left so sudden an' all."

"I guess," more awkward silence descended and they sipped their coffees.

Even though it was fairly early in the evening, Rey yawned; granted she was still an early riser and never slacked off at work, but... another yawn cracked her jaw and her eyelids began to feel heavy.

"Shit, sorry Unkar, I think I need to head home, thanks for…" she realised her words were becoming slurred, her tongue felt oddly heavy.

Alarm bells began to ring inside her head.

She sniffed suspiciously at her coffee, before looking up at Unkar.

His expression had completely changed, it was flat and hard and with it, any guilt over how she had left him, evaporated.

"What did… you… do?"

"Ren didn't account for what you would have owed me if you'd stayed and worked off your debt fairly," he told her churlishly as he reached into a drawer and pulled out a bundle of zip ties, "When I found out he hadn't done anything with you, that he wasn't even watching you anymore…" Rey's eyes rolled up and she felt her body slump to the floor as darkness rushed in, the last thing she heard was Unkar's self satisfied voice as he spoke somewhere close by, "and I figured out a way I could get my money's worth, after all..."

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

While Kylo tried his best not to think about Rey, he was painfully aware that her heat would be coming up soon. Since his time with Oola, he hadn't had much interest in intimate company, even going so far as to put off his rut. Taking extra blockers left him more antsy than usual, but as things stood, it was preferable to going through it on his own or touching another woman.

There would come a time soon, he was sure, when this would pass, he'd even stopped monitoring Rey's movements - she had his father and the crew at Solo Motors for that now, she was safe… and yet, his mind refused to forget her, ironically the only woman he'd come across that he couldn't forget, was the one who didn't want him.

Those sort of thoughts hurt, he could admit that to himself when in bed, quiet and alone; but at least for once in his life, he had done the right thing.

**'**

Life moved on, rarely calm, and never easy, which at least kept him busy and as distracted as possible.

The problem was, or at least, one of the problems, was that although he had moved his things to the room furthest from his old bedroom, and had everything Rey had so much as breathed on thoroughly laundered, the scent of her still lingered somehow. Or perhaps he had internalised it, his body refusing to forget how intoxicating it was, how warm it made him feel, how it made his glands itch and his fingers twitch with longing, (along with something else, too).

He was aware that this led to him perhaps operating on a shorter fuse, quicker to anger, swifter to punish, but in his line of business, making people nervous or afraid of him worked in his favour; which was good because something told him he'd be like this for a while.

**'**

On a sunny afternoon, as he was going over accounts with Hux, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Normally he would have ignored it until they were done, but something made him check the screen.

It was his father.

Han never rang him, _ever,_ and they had only spoken once since he arranged Rey's interview.

"Yes?"

There was a huff down the line, as if his greeting was thought to be lacking, but he didn't really care.

"I don't want to alarm you," Han started, ironically those six little words having the opposite effect, "But Rey didn't come into work this morning and she isn't answering her phone, you got any idea if she had an emergency or something? Chewie popped by her flat at lunchtime but no one was there, no sign of her bike either."

For the first time in a long while, Kylo felt suddenly overwhelmed by true, naked fear.

There was an odd sort of cracking sound and he realised he was gripping his phone too tightly.

"Ben? You still there?"

It was a measure of his inner turmoil that he didn't hang up on his father for using his birth name.

"Yes," he cleared his throat, "I'm here. I haven't had contact with her for months, but will see what I can find out. Keep me up to date with things your end."

"Yeah, will do, I'm sure it's nothing, but, she's a good kid, reliable, you know? Not done this before and, well, she booked time off, for, _you know,_ and that's soon."

It seemed possible that his fear could increase. It was irrational - she wasn't _his_, they may have spent her last heat together but it wasn't like he'd even knotted her, this should mean nothing to him, _she_ should mean nothing to him..._and yet._

"When?" was all he grit out in response.

"Saturday."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"Fuck."

"I need to get back to it, but keep me in the loop, too, okay? She's a good kid."

"Yeah," Kylo agreed before hanging up.

As he stared unseeingly into space, he attempted to get a grip; control was everything, rationality was necessary if he wished to find her. Of course it was possible that this would turn out to be a huge misunderstanding, but something in his gut told him otherwise and he was disinclined to ignore the warning.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

Rey awoke slowly, her head was pounding and her mouth and throat felt like she'd tried to swallow sand and been partially successful.

With a groan she rolled over, as she blinked her eyes open, her vision was met with harsh electric light and she winced, flinging her arm over her face.

A roiling in her stomach brought her sitting up abruptly, swaying with the head rush as she turned her face to the floor and threw up.

That was when she finally realised that she wasn't at home.

Panic surged through her, distractedly wiping her mouth with her sleeve, she glanced around her, thoroughly disoriented. She was in a bunker or warehouse room, or so she surmised from the metal walls and the concrete floor.

The space wasn't large, perhaps sixteen foot by twelve. She was on a camping bed, under a couple of blankets that had seen better days, a revolting looking bucket sat in a corner and a bottle of water stood by the bed.

That was it, she was alone.

At least she was still fully dressed but after a quick search she found her pockets had been emptied.

She was alone.

Alone.

_Alone._

The situation really hit her, and her breathing started to hitch as her heart beat began to race even faster, breath freezing in her lungs, this was bad.

This was very, very bad.

She didn't recognise the room and when she filtered the air the only thing she could smell was the bucket and… _Unkar._

Some fragments of memory came back to her, - it had been a trap, calling her over, making her coffee, a trick to… kidnap her? She glanced around her again, kidnap seemed the only explanation, _but why? _

She carefully measured her breathing, attempting to stay calm as she tried to work out for what purpose Unkar would drug her and bring her here, wherever here was.

After sniffing the water suspiciously, Rey took slow sips, wetting her lips and washing away the taste of bile that coated her tongue.

"He-" she coughed, tried again, "Hello? Unkar?"

Silence.

"Is, is anybody there?"

There was no reply, no sound other than her breathing and the beat of her pulse in her throat. The door, when she inspected it, was solid and heavy, she was unable to even rattle it and had nothing with which to try and pick the lock.

At one point she tried screaming, part of her afraid of being left to die here and another part afraid of being heard by the wrong people.

Nothing happened for a long while. She had no way to judge time and no idea how long she had been unconscious, other than how hungry she was.

Although it was cold, she became aware of her body temperature rising and realised with alarm that she'd missed taking her suppressants.

Despite that she wrapped the dodgy blankets around her, curled in a ball on the bed, eyes shut against the merciless lights but ears pricked for any sound.

Even so, at some point, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

**'**

The next time she woke, it was to the overwhelming, acrid scent of Alphas.

Her eyes flew open and she was moving before she could properly focus, scrambling back into a corner as she clutched the blankets tightly around her shoulders, as if they would protect her from the three Alpha's that were leering at her from the doorway.

"Well hello there, little one," drawled one as he and the others stalked into the room, "Aren't you a pretty thing."

Another one exhaled deeply before adding, "You smell so sweet, _Omega_."

A quick glance at the floor showed her that her vomit had gone, cleaned away somehow without her being aware of it, _had the water been drugged too?_

A shudder wracked her body as she hunched back as much as was possible, "Don-don't come any closer!"

"Aww, it's okay, honey, just let us have a look at what we're bidding on," the third one said with an unsettling smile that showed too many teeth, "You need to save your strength for heat."

"No funny business till the auction is done."

Unkar's voice cut through Rey's terror, her mouth went slack as she finally accepted what he had done, _what he was doing._

"You get to have a look, do your scent stuff, and leave, or you get tased," he flourished a large taser in his hand, clearly sized for use on Alphas.

"Unkar?" she didn't care that her voice trembled, that it was thin with terror, "Unkar, _please! _Why are you _doing_ this to me?"

"Shhh, little one, he's doing what's right, you should thank him, you'll be so much happier when you're mated and birthing pups."

They were so close now that she couldn't see where Unkar was, she screamed as they grabbed her, flipping her over so she was on her belly, pulling the hair away from her neck. She fought the pressure, the feel of their hands on her glands, but when she was commanded to be _Still_, all she could do was obey, sobbing, breath heaving as her heart pounded painfully in her chest.

Their hands traveled over her body, prodding and poking as if she were a horse they thought to buy, not a mate they wanted to share their lives with.

She shook as she lay there, her horror and revulsion was so thick it choked her, even as the Alpha's cooed at her, as they told her how ripe her scent was, about what a good little Omega she was and would be for them, how they'd _fill her up. _

Bile burned in her throat.

She was close to losing her mind when Unkar finally called them out and shut the door. The sound of several locks being bolted carried through, and where that sound had once made her feel safe, now it did the opposite.

This was a prison and she was condemned, her sentence: life.

It was a while before she could sit up, before her trembling limbs could coordinate enough for her to adjust her clothes and wrap the blankets around her once more… but now they reeked of _Alpha_, with a strangled cry she threw them into the corner by the door.

Sweat started to bead on her skin, she didn't have much time left.

Even though Kylo put every effort into locating Rey, he saw little success until Hux got a call in the early evening.

"It's the manager from The Dark Side, he says there's a man there who needs to speak to you urgently, it's the beta from Plutts, the one who was friendly with the girl."

Apprehension flooded his veins as he snatched the phone from Hux, hackles already on the rise.

"Talk."

"Mr Ren? My friend, Rey? I know you helped her before," he cleared his throat nervously, "And I figured you might help her again?"

"Get to the point, she's already been gone too long,.."

"Right, right," the beta took a nervous breath, "I think Plutt's selling her on the black market, I overheard him talking on the phone, he was saying he's already got buyers lined -"

Kylo snarled and went to hurl the phone against the wall, Hux, who was braver than his pale features and slender build would suggest, snagged it out of his hand before he could launch. Kylo strode quickly away, the dining room was seldom used so he let himself off the leash for a minute, smashing chairs and shattering glass as he snarled with unbridled, molten _fury_.

Hux found him standing in the mess, panting and shaking as he tried to steady himself.

"I've got Finch tracking Unkar's phone, as soon as we get the details we'll get over there. Loading cars now," he paused, then said carefully, "Finch also found where Plutt had advertised, she is listed as a virgin."

Taking in a deep breath, Kylo let it out slowly before answering, his voice quiet yet raspy, "I want to know who told Plutt I didn't knot her, I will not tolerate rats in my house."

Hux's lips thinned, "I will find out. Shall I deal with them or would you like to?"

While Kylo would normally have carried out the penalty with pleasure, this time it may not be possible, "Whichever is swifter." He knew he could rely on Hux to get it done in a satisfactory manner.

"Mr Ren?"

They both turned to see Mitaka's perpetually nervous face in the doorway, eyes darting nervously from the destruction to them and back again.

"What?" Kylo snarled.

Mitaka blanched, "Finch got the location, we're ready to go."

**'**

They ignored the speed limits, travelling fast, aggressively weaving through traffic towards a mostly abandoned industrial estate on the edge of the city.

It was a large area, a lot of the buildings were derelict, left empty after the recession and the changing markets. Some of them had been bought by legitimate small business owners, others were used as squats and then a few were taken over by less than savoury operators.

It appeared as if Plutt had utilised a warehouse that housed smaller units and rooms, the business that had rented them out went bust six years ago and it had been vacant ever since.

**'**

It was dark when they arrived, the lighting mostly defunct and only the buildings which were being lawfully used had security lights.

The warehouse they sought was on the edge of the estate, and they didn't bother with trying to conceal their arrival.

As they knew Rey was close to her heat, they all wore masks over their mouth and nose, better to keep clear heads as they knew there were at least eight Alpha's at the auction, who could all possibly be close to their rut.

"Aim to incapacitate unless warranted," Kylo growled as they pulled up the cars, "If they back away let them leave, the priority is finding my Omega, but bring Plutt to me, _alive_."

None of them so much as blinked at that last part, and he realised with a sinking feeling that no matter what happened, even if he wasn't her Alpha, she would always be his Omega. He didn't know how, but she had managed to mark him, to bind her to him without a bite.

It was almost laughable in its absurdity.

Now was not the time to try and make sense of it all though.

Now was the time for action.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

Rey had tried ripping apart the camping bed in the vain hope of using the metal legs as a weapon, but despite all her effort, she didn't have anything to unscrew them or the strength to prise them apart.

By now she was sweating, her skin feverish and itchy, but she didn't strip off any of her layers, despite how uncomfortable she was.

She felt awful, her stomach was achingly empty, and she hadn't touched the water since the Alpha's had visited for fear it would put her to sleep again.

The lack of food and water when her body needed it most, left her weak and shaky from low blood sugar and dehydration.

As time slid slowly by, she found herself pacing like a caged beast, using up precious energy as she desperately tried to think of a way out of this waking nightmare, with little success.

There seemed to be no way out other than the door, and the door could only be opened from the outside. There was nothing she could use as a weapon, save her own fists and teeth. It did occur to her that if she ran at the wall hard enough, she could give herself a head injury, possibly brain damage, but it may only knock her out and make her easier prey. Not that she wasn't easy prey now...

It was all so utterly hopeless.

After a while she became too unsteady to pace and collapsed in the far corner, finally giving in and taking off her hoodie, letting the cool air kiss her heated skin.

It was then that it occurred to her to look up at the ceiling, and there up above her, was an air vent. That was where the cool air was coming from.

Hurriedly folding the camp bed, she balanced precariously on top so she could reach the vent. The metal grille that covered it was old and rusty and after some frantic scrabbling she managed to tear it off, wincing at the loud clatter it made as it hit the concrete, but the sight of the aperture it had revealed claimed her attention, _it was too small._

With a heavy heart she tried anyway, pushing her arms and head inside, trying to channel John McClane as she wriggled and squeezed, but her shoulders stuck, despite twisting every which way she could, she failed.

_Why had she drank that coffee? Why hadn't she been suspicious of Unkar being nice to her?_

Fat, bitter tears started to run down her already sweaty face as she wiggled her body back out and fell to the floor, the awkward impact jarring her already abused body further.

She sat where she landed, staring dully at the bare metal wall. Maybe it was time to just give in, maybe once she was bitten she would forget what freedom was like, maybe she wouldn't miss her autonomy once she was bound to an Alpha, maybe…

The loud ominous rattle of locks being undone broke her out of her stupor, without thinking she grabbed the metal grille from the floor and backed against the wall, brandishing the grille like a weapon.

It was better than nothing.

A wash of Alpha preceded the door being opened fully, first came JB, a large beta who worked for Unkar, he ignored her glare as he surveyed the room, armed with a cattle prod.

Rey's attention quickly went back to the door as the three Alpha's she'd met already along with six others crowded into the room, followed by Unkar and Teedo both wielding tasers.

The overpowering mix of scents almost made her legs give out, she had to use the wall to help her stay up.

For once in her life, she agreed with the little omega voice in her head, as it screamed that these Alpha's were not _her_ Alpha.

She was aware of the change in them, as their bodies reacted to the scent of her imminent heat, of being in a room that must be now saturated with her scent and none other.

There was a pause as their predatory eyes took her in, sweaty and filthy with bloody hands from cuts and scrapes she hadn't noticed till now, clothing ragged, clearly weak but still glaring as much as she could.

"Omega's are precious, _beta_," the designation was spat like an insult, "You should have taken better care of her."

"You're welcome to leave, Wen," another growled, "I don't mind a bit of dirt."

"Even under the dirt and fear she smells delicious," one with bright blonde hair said as he edged closer to her, "You say she's twenty three? Looks younger."

"Yeah, she's on the small side," Unkar said uncomfortably, without making eye contact with Rey, even though she was pushing all the hatred she could through her eyes at him. "But that just means she'll be ready for kids straight away, no waiting around."

"I told you," an older man with dark hair said to the other Alphas with a tight smile, "Jay, Bob and I inspected her yesterday, as well as her medical notes. Everything is in order," he cast his eyes over Rey and she shrunk further back into the wall. He smiled again, "Let's get on with this."

Rey's eyes zeroed in on the still open doorway as they started bidding, Unkar acting as auctioneer, his little piggy eyes alight with greed.

For now, as they vied to outbid each other, the Alpha's that had been between she and the door, had their attention on Unkar, bunching together tightly, occasionally snapping at the others proximity but staying as they were.

Now was likely the last chance she would get.

Slowly and carefully, Rey edged along the wall, watching closely to see if any of them noticed. When it became clear they hadn't, she bit her lip, gripped the grille tightly in her hand, and ran.

**'**

* * *

**A/N: **

**Non-con drug use/spiked drink (not by Kylo)**

**Kidnap (not by Kylo)**

**non-con groping (not by Kylo)**

**Threatening behaviour (not by Kylo towards Rey)**

**'**

**Also had this in my head for some of this chapter ~ Constant Craving by k.d. lang (MTV unplugged version)**

**I had this written for a while, but did a lot of second guessing myself... but decided to pull up my big girl pants and post anyway.**

**Hope you're all safe and well out there in self-isolation world.**


	6. Chapter 6

**TW: Threatening behaviour, Violence, Blood, Minor character death **

**Chapter six:  
'**

**'**

There were a couple of men loitering outside the warehouse entrance, they watched warily as Kylo and the others exited the cars, but as they made for the entrance, one backed away, hands in the air.

He was smarter than his friend.

"Auction's about the end, you're cutting it fine if you want the bitch."

Before Kylo's eye could finish twitching, a blade bloomed in the man's throat, his look of surprise almost comical as he went down in slow motion, hands barely having time to try to remove the blade before he died.

Kylo raised an eyebrow as he looked at Liang, who shrugged as he went to retrieve his blade, "He didn't back away."

Hux snorted slightly and Kylo couldn't help a small smirk, despite the circumstances.

**'**

Inside the warehouse it was obvious that only one unit was currently in use, nevertheless Kylo sent Liang, Davin and Brant off to circle round the other way, in the unlikely event anyone tried to slip past them with Rey.

Even with his mask on, he could scent her. In spite of her perfume being polluted by the numerous Alpha scents, she was there, sweet and heady and _ripe_, but shot through with bitter fear. He had to swallow, his mouth suddenly filled with saliva as his Alpha roared inside his head, both elated at scenting his Omega and almost rabid at detecting the danger, _his competition._

The noise of the auction spilled out into the corridor, raised, aggressive voices, occasionally interspersed with territorial snaps and snarls, and Unkar Plutt's surly chant overlaying it all.

There were another two betas on this door, but they had their backs to the corridor, too interested in what was going on inside the room to notice him and the others.

Kylo cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck, he had weapons of course, but in such a small space it was better to do without, if possible; that and he didn't know who was in there, other than Plutt. While he was determined to take his Omega, it would be best to avoid eliminating unknowns unless provoked, just in case.

Omega auctions often got frenzied, usually the Omegas in question were due their heat, this meant that any Alpha's bidding were even more competitive, their bids higher than they would be otherwise, enslaved by pheromones and ruled by their biology's imperative to find a mate.

It was also common for scuffles and fights to break out, hence Plutt's guards. These ones were both holding heavy duty tasers.

He didn't care for tasers, there was something distasteful about them, something cowardly.

Unconcerned over grunts, he gave a nod to Vetch and Larrs, and a few seconds later, the guards were down, the soft _phut_ the suppressors made didn't carry over the general noise but the scent of blood would be noticed, so they moved in fast.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

Rey didn't get far; though Teedo's attention was on the auction and JB's was watching the Alphas, she hadn't noticed Fug standing just outside the door. Still, she may have managed to slip around him in his surprise, if she'd escaped the grasping hands of an Alpha at the back of the crowd, but his grasping fingers caught the sleeve of her t-shirt. The material ripped, but it slowed her down a fraction of a second and that was all Fug needed to react.

The scuffle caught Teedo's attention and he and Fug bound her wrists together with cable ties.

"If you don't stop fucking squirming, I'll tase you," Teedo hissed at her as she struggled.

"Here," the Alpha who had foiled her escape attempt smirked as his large meaty hand squeezed her neck over her glands.

With a shudder and a whine, she went limp.

His thumb stroked over her mating gland, "Good Omega," he purred, then leveled a glare at Teedo, "Watch her more carefully, beta, or I'll make certain you regret it."

With one last lingering caress, his firm grip left her glands and he turned back to the bidding.

Rey shuddered again, revulsion crawling under her skin like maggots, as Teedo dragged her away from the door and used more cable ties to bind her to the camp bed. It wasn't too heavy for her to carry, but it would be impossible to move without making a noise.

Curling in on herself, she turned her face away, resting her heated cheek on the cool metal of the wall, defeated.

She was exhausted, her skin was burning, hunger gnawed at her insides and she was so dehydrated that her lips were cracked and sore. Her only other chance to escape would come when whoever won her transported her, but it was possible they'd bite her here before leaving. She had no idea what the protocol was, how an auction worked or even how mating worked beyond the actual biting...

**'**

It was hard to tune out the auction, it was loud and the swirl of Alpha pheromones made it impossible for Rey to pretend she wasn't there, that this wasn't happening to her.

As the price rose, and rose again, a flicker of resentment started to glow. Unkar, the person who should have looked after her and treated her like family, was profiting from _selling_ her. Her whole life he had worked her like a slave and now he was selling her like one. The implication was that he _owned_ her, that the Alpha who won, would _own_ her. The slave trade had been abolished for over a century, yet such treatment of Omegas was apparently fine... But she was _not _a thing, she was _not_ a possession, _she was_ not _property._

The glow inside her grew, burning away some of her fear with the fire of rapidly dawning fury.

Her biology, her designation, was merely an accident of birth. It may influence her behaviour somewhat, but so did the traits she inherited from her parents, whoever they were. And contrary to nature, nurture had made her stronger than the average Omega, tougher. Alpha's had the advantages over Omegas physically, of course, but that didn't mean she had to let herself be dominated by them.

Lifting her eyes from the floor, she glared up as Unkar called out bids of ridiculous sums of money, _but she was _worth _more._

Infinitely more.

No one could buy her, no one would fucking _own_ her.

These Alpha chauvinists, these arogant, prejudiced, entitled, fucking _slavers_!

She'd be burned before she let one mate her.

She was going down swinging.

**'**

For once, her heat symptoms were actually helpful, her hands were slippery with sweat and the cable ties could have been tighter around her slender wrists.

No one was watching her. She hadn't moved for a while and though her scent had probably altered somewhat, her current impending heat probably covered it to some extent.

It hurt, wrenching her thumb joints to the side, squeezing them into her palms so she could yank first one hand and then the other free of her bonds, scraping and bruising her skin, but the pain was transient, ignorable.

This relative freedom was perhaps small, a tiny drop in the big ocean of her problems, but it felt _good_. The likelihood of her leaving here alive and free were slim to none, but she wasn't going to make it easy for them and she was never going to stop fighting. Who knew, maybe if she was disobedient enough perhaps they wouldn't want her, though in her experience Alpha's seemed to like that sort of challenge.

They, however, could go fuck themselves.

The tension in this concrete hive of scum and villainy, was coming to a head, she could feel it in the air, knife sharp, the atmosphere charged with electric expectation.

The Alpha's that had stopped bidding had stayed around to watch, keyed up, keen to see the winner and watch her being handed over like just some _thing._

The beta's were as distracted as the Alpha's, though while Fug and Teedo weren't paying attention to her, their bodies still mostly blocked the doorway.

That was okay though, even if she got through the door there would likely be other guards somewhere.

The Alpha that had ripped her t-shirt was still in the thick of it, but one of the three she had first met, or rather been subjected to, had bowed out. The one who had told her to be happy about being sold.

She stayed silent as she ran at him, but a furious warcry echoed inside her head.

One foot dug into the back of his knee, the next one found purchase at his hip as she slammed into his back. She sliced her right hand around the curve of his neck under his chin and grabbed her left bicep while bringing her left hand to press flat on the back of his head, before squeezing as tightly as she was able as she pulled back her body and wrapped her legs around his torso, hooking her ankles together to anchor her as his roar of indignation cut off with a strangled sound and he started struggling.

And that was when the shit hit the fan, but _not_ in the way she'd expected.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

Kylo stalked into the unit, unsuppressed gun in hand, flanked by Marek and Dano and calmly shot the prostate body of one of the guards, to get everyone's attention.

Plutt squawked, face draining of colour as his taser fell from his suddenly limp hands. The other beta dropped the cattle prod he was holding, arms raised as he backed against the wall.

The Alpha's were not so quick to submit, however, but Kylo's attention honed in on his Omega and let the others take care of them.

Rather than being handcuffed, lying unconscious or cowering in a cage, Rey was… Kylo felt his lips part in astonishment and his cock twitch in his trousers; because there she was, sweat beading on her sun-kissed skin, in ripped, dirty clothes holding on for dear life to a large Alpha she was trying to throttle.

It was beautiful, the snarl on her face, the unexpected fierceness in her hazel eyes as she committed everything she had to choking a man twice her size.

The Alpha in question was red in the face, twisting and turning as he tried to wrestle her off him, it was an arresting sight, but it was probably a good idea to drop him before he hurt Rey anymore.

So Kylo shot him in the knees.

The man went down hard and Rey fell to the floor with him, in hindsight it may not have been the best way to help her, but in his defense, he'd been distracted.

Kicking the writhing, snarling Alpha off her, Kylo held out his hand, resisting the almost overwhelming urge to just grab her.

"Rey," he ignored the chaos around them, speaking softly, "Are you hurt?"

A myriad of thoughts passed through her wide eyes, too quick to read, but her body untensed slightly, hackles settling little.

The moment seemed to last a lifetime and he had to work not to let his hand tremor with uncertainty.

Finally, she reached out and took his hand.

As her hot fingers slipped into his, he felt a tension inside him uncoil and he pulled her to her feet.

"Are you hurt?" he asked again, scanning her body now she was up.

There were bruises and cuts, her fingers and nails ripped and bloody, abrasions around her wrists, her clothing needed throwing out, and, he narrowed his eyes as she stumbled, she needed food and water urgently_._

Gently, carefully he guided her against his body, loosely supporting her as he turned to see what everyone else was doing.

Any of the ambulatory Alpha's had wisely disappeared, a few had clearly been too hyped up or too stupid to leave without a fight and were in varying degrees of trying to make their broken departure.

Plutt and the other surviving beta were on their knees, hands in the air being watched by Hux.

A glance around the room showed him how Plutt had imprisoned her, when he turned back to look at Plutt, Kylo's lip curled in a silent snarl.

"Not really," Rey answered finally, but ended on a pained hiss as one hand went to clutch her abdomen and she doubled over.

For a terrified moment he thought she was wounded, then his brain caught up with his cock. Holding her close with one arm, he fished in his pocket and got out his mobile. Mitaka answered on the first ring.

"We're done. Bring the supplies," he ended the call, then looked down at Rey. "I brought emergency heat suppressants," he admitted reluctantly, shoving his Alpha down with an effort. He hesitated as her head jerked up to stare at him warily, "But I want you to come home with me, for a few days until I know you are safe."

Her suspicion was understandable, but it still hurt him. All he wanted to do was take care of her, to knot her, mate her, yes, _a thousand times yes_, but a mating bond wasn't only about sex and he wanted her for much more, he wanted her for everything…

Another hiss and her eyes flitted away, still unreadable. Her scent was mostly thick with heat now, but there was something sharp blended in, an added piquancy and warmth.

He realised he was unconsciously stroking her bare arm and stilled his fingers with an effort, trying not to let his anxiety get to him.

"Okay," her voice was quiet, there was a pause, then, "What will you do with _him?_"

There was no need to ask whom she meant.

He followed her gaze to where Plutt was still kneeling, wringing his hands as he tried to explain to Hux that he'd been forced into kidnapping Rey.

Kylo didn't believe him for a second.

"That is entirely up to you," he told her.

It was only fair.

She nodded and stood straighter, walking away from him over to Plutt. Before she got to him, Mitaka offered her a suppressant tablet and a bottle of electrolyte-infused water, she hesitated before taking them from him, examining the seals carefully on both tablet and the water before taking them.

She drank the bottle dry, swaying a little afterwards, but determinedly making her way to stand before Plutt.

Kylo stood next to her, arms folded as he glared down at this cockroach who had dared to harm his Omega, mated or no.

Plutt ignored Rey at first and turned watery, bloodshot eyes to Kylo, "I didn't know, I swear, it was Bob and Chris, I swear, they made me do it, they-"

It proved impossible to not react and Kyo backhanded him, hard, "You should be grovelling to her, not me," Kylo growled, otherwise containing his disgust and anger somehow.

"_Why?_" Rey's voice came out raw and achingly vulnerable.

It was the first real sign of what she had been through. Her strength was admirable, unique.

Plutt opened his mouth to reply, but she spoke over him, "Don't give me bullshit, Unkar, I was there, this is on you."

"It wasn't me, I swear, girl-"

"You!" Rey snarled, "_It was you!_ How would they have known I was an Omega otherwise? You're lying! You're my foster father, you _betrayed_ me!"

Kylo watched as Plutt blinked, shifted uncomfortably, swallowed. Rey's scent was now swirling with agitation, sharp with fury.

"I stopped you from getting registered! I looked after you, didn't I?"

Rey stared unblinkingly down at Plutt, pupils wide as her scent went strangely... cold and almost disturbingly calm.

After a long moment, she nodded slightly, and to Kylo's surprise, said quietly, "You did... And now, I'll take care of you."

Somehow, suddenly Hux's gun was in her hands and before Plutt could react, Rey shot him in the head.

**'  
'**

* * *

**A/N: If anyone would like an** **AO3 invite, I have some spare, DM me on Twitter or here.**  
**Thanks goes to Akashne for looking this over and encouraging me to post even though I'm not sure about this**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

'

Even though Unkar had never cared for her the way a parent would, Rey had trusted him with her safety. If Mr Ren hadn't arrived, her night could have ended with a forced mating. It would have effectively taken her life and Unkar had already taken so much of it… he had betrayed her, _utterly,_ and then somehow thought he could blame someone else? It was insulting, it made fury burn through her every vein, so much so that she almost couldn't breathe, her vision narrowing till it was just she and him.

Unkar may have kept her safe from Alpha's and kept her designation secret when she presented, but it had only ever been because he'd wanted the money he got from the government for taking her, and then the money she brought in working for him. As soon as that changed, any care he had shown her had vanished like it had never been.

Conversly, Mr Ren, an Alpha, a fucking crime lord, had cared for her. Yes, he'd kidnapped her, but he hadn't forced her to submit to him, to take his knot and his bite, or kept her with him after her heat.

Rey valued feeling safe, it was one of the most important things for her well being and peace of mind, and she knew somehow that if Unkar left here alive, she would never feel safe again… and she wanted _vengeance_. She had almost lost her mind since waking up in this light-forsaken place, she would have nightmares for years, all because of his filthy greed and selfish entitlement.

The decision came easily, she felt oddly detached and everything seemed to happen slowly, Hux's gun holster was just there, so close to her hand, and it just happened.

Unkar was dead before he hit the floor.

She had never seen anyone shot before, plenty of injuries for sure, but never gun related. It wasn't as messy as she expected, it was almost anticlimactic. There was blood of course, a spatter on the wall behind where Plutt had knelt, some other matter mixed in that she didn't study closely, but there wasn't much. He lay in a broken heap, eyes still open, a trail of blood seeping out of the entrance wound and down his temple.

Although detached from herself, she could feel her body reacting, perhaps drinking all that water at once had been a bad idea, she was starting to feel woozy, her head felt flushed with sudden warmth and her vision started to spot, black dots obscuring everything… _she was so very tired._..

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

There was shocked silence after the gunshot. Kylo was pretty sure no one had expected _that _to happen, but then, he hadn't expected to find his Omega trying to choke an Alpha either.

Luckily, his shock didn't slow his reflexes and he caught her before she hit the floor, eyes rolling up into her head before her lids closed.

The sudden panic he felt at her collapse had him frantically searching her body for hidden injuries.

"I think she just fainted, sir."

Mitaka's voice filtered through and Kylo jerked up to look at the beta as he knelt beside them while Hux retried his gun with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"It's normal practice to starve Omega's for auctions," Hux added, lips curled now with disgust, "She looks fine otherwise, just needs rest, food and water."

After another long look at her face, Kylo realised that they were right, and finally breathed a small sigh of relief before gathering her against his chest and standing up.

"We'll need to find a replacement for Plutt," Hux said, sounding mildly vexed at the inconvenience as he looked about him, "I'll stay and clear this up."

After briefly glancing about the room, Kylo's eyes fell on the Alpha who he'd shot in the knees, still struggling on the floor. Vetch had kicked his phone out of his hand before he could call anyone and it occurred to Kylo that the Alpha would probably never walk again, and since Kylo had taken his mask off, he had seen his face… plus, he'd put hands on Rey.

Before Kylo carried Rey out, he shifted her weight slightly so he could put the Alpha down. Perhaps it was unnecessary, but he wanted the message to get through - he would no longer tolerate Omega auctions in his city. Alpha's may have a certain animalism in them, but this level of barbarism was absolutely beneath them.

**'**

The ride home was quiet, the welcome weight and scent of Rey in his arms once more, safe and where she belonged, was the remedy his tense body needed.

Mitaka didn't comment on the purr that rumbled inside Kylo's chest, but he probably wouldn't have heard him if he did.

First, or when she woke up rather, he would feed her, then she was in desperate need of a shower, or maybe a bath would be better. More food once she was clean, more rest.

The room she'd stayed in before would still be the best place for her, he could fill the now empty walk-in wardrobe with blankets and pillows to make her comfortable. The idea of scenting them was appealing, but he reluctantly pushed the urge down - he'd do so only if she asked him to, if she wanted him… even now he wasn't sure if she ever would.

His purr cut off abruptly, and he turned his gaze away from her face to stare out of the window, watching the dark world rush pass.

The heat scent was already subdued, but it didn't leave his head any clearer of her, she filled up his senses… for a moment, he was transported back to his childhood, to his parents kitchen, as his father sang Annie's Song by John Denver to his mother, dancing her around as the pasta boiled over on the hobb, completely forgotten as they laughed, eyes only for each other.

He had never fully understood the meaning behind the lyrics until this moment, until Rey. He had always thought it was just another love song, another Alpha bullshitting to make money out of fake romance, perpetuating the myth that the mating bond was more than mere biology.

But now he knew, now he understood.

It hurt, to think that maybe he had found his true mate, only for her not to feel it too. For a moment it was hard to breathe, but he overcame it, after all, he had been alone a long time, he prefered it that way. Once she was recovered and gone, he'd get over it, like he did with every other disappointment in his life, and go back to how things were before.

She'd be safe now, with Unkar gone and the crew at Solo Motors looking out for her… speaking of which - he found his phone and dialed his father.

Despite the late hour, Han answered on the first ring, voice gravelly with tiredness but otherwise sounding very much awake.

**'**

"You find her?" he asked without preamble.

"Yeah, she's with me now, asleep though."

There came a gusty sigh of relief, "Good to know... what happened?"

Kylo wasn't sure how much Rey would want her work colleges to know, but on the flipside, the more people keeping an eye on her, the better, so… "Plutt, he kidnapped her for an Omega auction. We got there just in time."

A snort of outrage and disgust sounded on the other end of the phone, "He what? Christ on a cracker that man should hang. Is she all right? Did they hurt her?"

"She'll be okay, and there won't be any more problems from Plutt, either."

Han cleared his throat, "Glad to hear it, well, I'll let you go, son, thanks for letting us know and, you know, well done."

Han's voice had gone awkward and gruff at the end and the barest of smile's curved Kylo's lips.

"Well, I wouldn't have known if you hadn't called, so, thank you," he answered quietly.

There was a pause, a brief grunt and then the phone went dead.

**'**

He was slipping his phone back in his pocket as the car came to a stop and Mitaka hurried around to open the door for him.

The house was a welcome sight, more tension in him drained away as he walked through the door and upstairs, happy to have his Omega safe and in his home where he could protect her and care for her properly. The possibility that it may only be for a little while, he pushed down for now.

Walking into his old room felt a little strange, but the wardrobe was the perfect size for nesting, a dark warm space that would hopefully make Rey feel safe when she woke.

There were already some blankets and towels stored inside, he added the duvet and pillows from the bed, till she looked comfortable, briefly murmuring softly as he tucked her in, curling in on herself and burying her nose in a soft chenille blanket that happened to be his favourite.

He couldn't stop the bloody purr from rumbling in his chest again.

After plugging in a dim night light and placing a post-it next to it, he made himself leave, afraid that if he stayed he wouldn't be able to stop himself from curling up with her.

**'**

He left Mitaka outside to watch the door, then went downstairs to catch up with work, occupying himself till he gave into exhaustion and took himself to bed.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

Rey woke abruptly, sitting up with a gasp, her heartbeat a frantic tattoo in her throat as she struggled with what turned out to just be blankets wrapped around her.

At first, she didn't know where she was, but once her panic had dissipated a little, she noticed a note:

_'Rey, you're safe in my home, you're in the same room as you were before. Mitaka is outside if you need anything. Kylo Ren'_

_Kylo?_ That was Mr. Ren's first name? A strange warm flush of pleasure filtered through her, along with relief. The sensation made her eyelids flutter, sleep dragging her down again, and she welcomed it.

**'**

The next time her eyes opened, it wasn't really her in control, her mind stayed dark and quiet as the Omega in her surfaced, anxious and needy.

While she could scent her Alpha, it was too faint to be comforting. Despite her sore and aching muscles, she left the warmth and safety of her nest to go and find her Alpha.

He wasn't in the large bed in the bedroom that the nest was attached to, so she cautiously opened the door. The Beta sitting beside it was asleep, head tipped back against the wall, soft snores coming from his slightly open mouth.

She followed her nose, creeping quietly down the hall to its end where the scent of her Alpha intensified. The door was closed but not locked and as she gently opened it she was hit by a tidal wave of Alpha pheromones, thick and mouth-watering and _home, home, home._

As she slid inside and closed the door behind her, she looked around, it was dark, but there was enough ambient light for her to make out a huge bed and the vague shape of a body that rested under the covers.

_Alpha!_

Not wanting to wake him, she carefully pulled back the covers and slipped underneath with a soft, satisfied sigh. Even without touching him she could feel the heat radiating from his large body. She wasn't brave enough to snuggle up next to him, but this was enough. Pressing her nose into the pillow she allowed herself to drift off again, exhaustion taking over now that her Omega was satisfied.

**'*'**

* * *

**'*'**

At first, Kylo's dreams had been distressing, images of Rey bound and bitten by some other Alpha, plagued him, causing him to toss and turn and surface often. At some point he passed into a deeper sleep though, mind pleasantly dark and quiet.

Sometime later, he registered a change, another body was curled against him, small, skin soft beneath his finger tips, _Omega!_ It was his Omega in his bed, _right where she belonged_.

He buried his nose in her hair at the back of her neck, chuffing slightly as he inhaled deeply, letting her scent fill him. It felt like every muscle in his body turned to liquid, warm and loose and _right._

She made a small noise and pressed herself more firmly against him, normally that would have awoken his cock, his hunger, but after the day he'd had and the dreams that followed, it just relaxed him further, his body more inclined to rest now he knew absolutely that she was safe.

Nothing could harm her now, not when she was with him.

'

He next woke to loud and panicked knocking on his bedroom door, he frowned, but it fell away as he noticed Rey, spooned against him and still deeply asleep.

Carefully sliding out of bed, he went to answer the door to find a pale, wide-eyed Mitaka flanked by a grim looking Hux.

"She's disappeared," Hux told him with a glare for Mitaka, "This one fell asleep while he was on watch."

When Kylo's reaction was just a small smile, both their eyebrows raised.

"It's alright, she's in here with me," he turned his gaze to pin down Mitaka, "We will talk about this later, but right now, I'm going back to bed."

By the light in the hall it was clearly still early, "Get some rest yourselves, we'll start the day later."

Mitaka didn't need telling twice and hurried away but Hux lingered.

"I found the rat," he said quietly, but with a certain air of satisfaction. Kylo just raised his eyebrows and Hux smiled, "It was Pryde, I dealt with him personally."

Pryde. Kylo had never particularly liked the man, but he did have some valuable skills, still,

"Not a huge loss then."

Hux nodded, "Indeed not… well, I'll see you later then."

With another nod, he turned and Kylo shut the door with a small sigh, that was another thing he no longer needed to be concerned over.

Rey was quiet as he got back into bed but as he shifted to curl himself around her again she wiggled closer, emitting a small happy noise as she did.

He had no idea why she had joined him, but it gave him a glimmer of hope that perhaps what he felt wasn't completely one-sided.

'

'

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing :) I've had a few comments asking if I've abandoned this fic. This is a gentle reminder that I'm not getting paid for this, and life etc gets in the way, updates may take a while, please be patient.**

**For expected chapter count and other details, see my bio. I don't have a set update schedule, but every wip I have posted I intend to complete. **


	8. Chapter 8

'

It had been a long time since Kylo had woken up with a woman in his bed, and an even longer time since it was with a smile on his face. Ordinarily, he preferred to sleep alone - when he fucked, it was purely that, nothing more, _but this?_ Waking up to Rey enveloped in his arms, sound asleep, was absolutely precious.

She was still fully clothed, while he was naked, which was frustrating but probably for the best because he was pretty sure he would have simply made love to her in his sleep otherwise. But despite her turning up in his bed, he knew that wasn't what she was here for, not right now at least, and he needed to feed her anyway.

With a resigned sigh, he gently slid from her embrace, offering up his pillow when she whimpered and wriggled after him. The substitute was accepted with a frown, but she seemed too tired to chase the feeling out of sleep.

**'**

Hux found him in the kitchen as he was making up a breakfast tray, his pale eyebrows raised in amusement, probably at the sight of Kylo doing something so domestic.

"I've been over to Plutt's, found her things hidden in his office and her bike was concealed round the back," he handed Kylo a bag with Rey's wallet, phone and keys in, "I told the employees to take a few days off, and Larrs, Vetch, Brant, and Terex are over there now going through things. Any idea who you want to take over there?"

Kylo rubbed yesterday's five o'clock shadow as he thought, in truth, the work Plutt did for him had become less and less necessary recently and he wondered if simply selling the place would be better. Although it belonged to Plutt, it wouldn't be hard to find the deeds and alter them. Times were changing and his house had several double garages that could be used if there was ever a need to strip a car down in a hurry.

"Clear everything up, then sell it. Everyone, except the guy that survived last night, gets severance of one week or can be used elsewhere if they're suitable."

Hux smiled, "That area has been gentrified in the last five years or so and it's a good size plot, big enough for apartments. The return will probably be fairly substantial."

"Good, make it happen, that shithole can go."

With a nod, Hux turned to leave, then paused, "The beta, the one who phoned in from the Darkside with the tip on Plutt? He's called again a few times, should I tell him she's okay or leave him hanging?"

They may not have found Rey in time if it weren't for him, Kylo owed him a debt and he never liked being beholden to anyone.

"No harm in telling him, and get someone to pay him a visit, give him a cheque."

**'**

Juggling the loaded tray, the bag with Rey's things and a two litre bottle of electrolyte-infused water, Kylo made his way back to his bedroom.

Rey was still fast asleep, curled in a tight ball around his pillow, the sight of her made something in his chest ache.

While she needed rest, she also needed food and water, so he set his burdens down and sat on the bed.

Now the room was lighter and he was properly awake, he noticed her lank hair and dirt smudged face, his ensuite had a bath… he realised with a grimace that he would have to move bedrooms again when she left, the emergency heat suppressant was still working, but it had a life of twenty four hours, and even without heat, her scent had already permeated the room. Part of him hated this weakness, this vulnerability, yet he was powerless to stop it, somehow if felt more than mere biology… he shook his head at himself, _enough internal whinging_, he'd get over this, eventually.

Gently, he shook her arm but only got a grumble in response as she curled tighter in her ball. After several tries of shaking her and saying her name, he lost patience and simply commanded, "_Wake up, Omega_."

It worked, her eyes opened wide, then blinked at him, confused for a moment before shrinking away slightly and struggling to sit up, detangling the covers she had wrapped herself in.

"I brought you breakfast, you need to eat and rehydrate."

As he fetched the tray from the side table, her eyes traveled around the room and she frowned.

"You arrived in here sometime during the night," he explained as he gave her the tray, "I wasn't awake at the time."

Recognition flashed in her eyes and her cheeks turned pink, "Um, sorry about that, I think I slept walked."

Her voice was raspy, and he handed her the glass of milk first, "Drink that before you eat, it will help."

While he wanted to stay and watch her eat what he had brought her, he made himself leave and took a quick shower before running a bath.

**'**

To his satisfaction, he found that Rey had demolished everything on the tray and was sleepily

leaning against the headboard.

"I've run you a bath, towels are already in there along with a change of clothes."

Resisting the urge to just scoop her up and carry her in, he let her get there on her own. As her clothes had been so filthy, he changed the bedding. He hadn't really detected any lingering scents from the other Alpha's on her, but it seemed like a good idea anyway. Her phone was dead, so he plugged that in to charge, then restlessly paced his room, trying to decide what to do once she was finished bathing.

_Should he suggest she go back to his old room? If he did, would she agree even if she didn't want to? Maybe she would want to stay with him, but if he didn't offer, what if she were uncomfortable?_

This uncertainty was insufferable, he had no idea when he became so… fuck it, _no_, he hadn't slept so well in years, if he wasn't going to have her heat, he'd at least spend the night with her, her body liked him when she was asleep.

His cock twitched in his jogging trousers and he adjusted himself, _sleep_, he'd _sleep_ with her, not the other thing, no matter how much he hungered for it…

Opening a drawer he pulled out a bottle and a glass, pouring himself three fingers of whiskey, enjoying the burn as he stared unseeing out of the window.

After a while it occurred to him that Rey had been in there quite some time and the vague splashes that he had been registering had stopped. It could be that she was out and getting dressed, but he hadn't heard the bath drain…

It was lucky that there was no lock on the door, for when he entered the steam filled room, he found Rey lying in the bath, sound asleep. The water was murky and her hair wet and clean, so she must have drifted off after washing herself, for a moment he shut his eyes and bit his lip, _what if she had drowned?_ She was going to be the death of him.

She barely stirred as he lifted her out, skin glistening and warm, soaking his clothes in the process. A warmth filled him - she must feel safe, otherwise she would have woken up. When she curled into his chest, he had to bite his tongue, as it was, a small whine left him anyway.

Rather than try and dress her, he just put her to bed wrapped in a towel with another around her hair.

There was a small whimper as he let go of her and covered her up, her nose scrunched as she unconsciously wriggled around, _seeking her Alpha out_... but no, that was wishful thinking. Regardless, he undressed down to his boxers and slid under the covers, he only planned on staying till she was more soundly asleep, but as soon as he was in, she was draped over him, head on his chest and one leg thrown over his.

Within a minute his cock was hard and aching, his fingers twitched against her skin, desperate to roam, to map her out, to learn her contours like a topographer. He settled for smooth strokes on one slim shoulder, relieved when the contact didn't wake her, trying not to think about how little she was wearing beneath the covers.

He distracted himself with estimating how much he'd get for Plutt's garage and where he would invest it, until he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**'**

It was dark when Rey woke, she surfaced slowly, she was warm and comfortable, her belly was full and she felt blissfully clean, but even better than all that, was the scent that surrounded her. It was recognisably Mr Ren's, but it was thicker somehow, richer, it made her skin buzz and heat settle in her core, her mouth watered. Some part of her was alarmed by this reaction, it told her that this was a dangerous place to be, that if she stayed here she would get hurt, _used_. But for the first time in over a decade, she listened to that other voice, the small, needy one that was telling her that this was a good place to be.

Under her fingertips, his smooth skin was hot, almost burning and she bit her lip, she wanted to touch him more, wanted to feel that heated skin against her own, but a life-time of fear held her back.

There was definitely something different about him though, the way his scent was invading her body, making her own skin flush and tingle and tighten. The peculiar urge to rub herself all over him till she absorbed his scent, shocked her.

Snapping out of it, she moved away from him, blindly groping around she found the bottle of water by the bed and finished it.

Rather than trying to analyse what was going on with her, she curled up, this time with her back to him, and slipped into sleep once more.

*'

_Running. Running as swiftly as she could but it wasn't enough, she wasn't fast enough. Her lungs burned with the effort, skin flushed dangerously hot, sweat dripping off her as her legs flew, still going despite the futility of the action. She could hear them, grunts and growls, snapping at each other as they chased her down. Their scents carried on the humid air, heavy and oppressive, trying to hook into her brain and slow her escape. She evaded them for what seemed like hours, it only made her terror grow, some part of her told her to just get it over with, but her body refused to accept that. There had to be a way out, there had to be._

_Wherever they were, it wasn't somewhere she recognised, adding to her anxiety as she blindly darted down alleys or dived into abandoned buildings, desperate to find a way out of this nightmare… _nightmare?... _Then the inevitable happened, a large body hit her and she went down, screaming as her face hit the ground and grazed her cheek, bruising her body all over as her head snapped to the side, hissing as she tried to crawl away. But she was held down, hands grabbing at her clothes and simply ripping them to shreds, her frantic struggles not making the slightest bit of difference. She had harboured a secret hope that if (when) she was caught, the Alphas may fight for dominance and she'd be able to slip away. As unlikely as it was, that would give her a chance for freedom, but she didn't even get to test it, because bizarrely, they seemed to have teamed up… Rey's whole body went cold with horror as she watched the Alpha's tear their own clothes off, as they lined up to… any rationality she had left shattered as she almost ripped her lungs to shreds as she screamed, hysterically thrashing, uncaring that her head kept striking the concrete. She screamed. She screamed. She screamed..._

**'**

* * *

Kylo woke abruptly, there had been a distinct shift in the scents around him, now the sharp scent of an Omega in distress filled the room, but a glance to the side showed him the bed was empty.

He found Rey on the floor, tangled in blankets, struggling against something only she could see. It was clearly a bad dream but that estimation appeared to be understating it somewhat when she began to scream. It was a hoarse sound and full of abject terror.

As he tried to pick her up, to soothe away the fear, she only screamed louder, writhing in his arms, as she did everything she could to get away from him.

"Rey! Rey, wake up! It's okay, you're safe!" it didn't get through to her though, even his command of "_Wake up, Omega_," didn't work this time, she seemed to be caught, trapped somehow in her nightmare.

So Kylo did the only other thing he could think of, grabbing her neck as firmly as he could, he bent down, getting cracked on his jaw by her chin, before his mouth made the contact he needed. Holding her body as still as possible, he sucked on her glands, soothing her scent gland before covering the sensitive mating gland, her taste exploding on his tongue as his fingers clutched her to him. Cock becoming rock solid almost immediately, Kylo moaned, trying to control his Alpha who was urging him _to bite,_ as it insisted she'd feel safe when they were mated.

The screaming stopped, the panic began seeping from her body, the scent of her fear dissipating as she went limp in his arms… another scent replaced it though, heady and sweet, _arousal_…

Reluctantly he pulled away so he could see her face, she whimpered slightly and opened confused eyes.

"_You are safe, Omega. Safe with me_."

A shiver went through her and she awkwardly sat up, looking around as if she needed confirmation. This did not please his Alpha.

Picking her up, he lay down on the bed, curving himself around her as he drew the covers over them, cocooning her with his body as his scent enveloped her, filling the space under the covers. She still whimpered though, he could feel she was still confused, only barely awake. Slipping his hand around her waist, he gently stroked the soft skin of her stomach as his lips found her gland again. It wasn't long before her muscles were loose and lax and she was quiet, snuggling back against him as his chest rumbled with a purr.

**'**

* * *

**'**

**A/N: I think you can guess what's going to happen in the next chapter, that will be the last, unless an epilogue happens. Sorry, again, that this took so long and that the chapter count went up 0_0 hope you're all safe and well and surviving the craziness that is 2020 **


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